JIM CROW 51 



nests, and one meadow-lark's nest in a single hour. 

 "I have watched crows with field-glasses from my 

 hilltop," he adds, " again and again, and I never 

 yet kept one in sight for two hours in breeding- 

 season that I did not see him take eggs or young from 

 at least one nest." This is a severe indictment, 

 surely, and justifies us in keeping the crows from, 

 becoming too numerous. But it should also teach 

 us to make it easy for them to get meat scraps dur- 

 ing the breeding-season, thus preventing many of 

 their raids on the nests of other birds. If a tame 

 crow does not molest other birds' nests because he 

 gets all the meat he wants, it surely shows that it is 

 the meat he is after, not the sport of hunting. It 

 is only man that hunts for sport, anyway. Nearly 

 all birds and beasts are more civilized. 



The last crows I have had an opportunity to 

 observe in captivity again belonged to Walter Stone, 

 who doesn't object to being waked in the morning. 

 There were three of them, out of the same nest, and 

 from them we learned several interesting facts. 

 For one thing, we observed them disgorge food 

 pellets, like owls pellets from an inch to an inch 

 and a half long which could be examined for signs 

 of a destructive diet. For another thing, we ob- 

 served them taking, as we at first supposed, dust- 

 baths; but they did not flutter and rub about as a 

 hen does, but squatted quite still. Investigation 

 showed that they thus squatted directly in large 

 ant-hills. We could think of no reason whatever 

 for this action, till Stone read one day that the 

 poilus in France spread their cootie-infested shirts 

 over ant-hills whenever possible, the ants destroying 



