THE OOLOGIST. 



73 



know them personally and have ex- 

 changed only very formal business let- 

 ters with them, yet I instinctively 

 trust them and would risk almost any- 

 thing in their hands. 



There are no exceptions to this 

 rule, a true naturalist is a true man. 



But there are some so-called natural- 

 ists who are not as honest as they might 

 be. I know this to my sorrow. Any 

 losses I meet with from such people as 

 these, I have charged to the account of 

 experience and come up again with a 

 smiling face determined not to condem 

 ■all my brethren because there is one 

 black sheep in the fold. I have an old 

 colored friend who says, "You jes 

 temptin Providen's to trust all them 

 fellers, you gwine to get lef bad some 

 of des clays." I think differently and 

 only hope that the day may come when 

 all naturalists are honest men. 



J., M. F., O. 



The Crow Around Omaha. 

 Corvus americanus . 



There is probably no city in the 

 United States where corvus americanus 

 is so plentiful and tame as they are in 

 Omaha. 



Here they are almost as common as 

 the English Sparrow or the tame 

 Pigeon and show no more fear of man 

 than the latter two birds. 



All through the winter months and es- 

 pecially when the ground is covered 

 with snow this handsome and intelli- 

 gent but very mischieveous bird is a 

 common sight on our side streets' and 

 alleys and very often they may be seen 

 in our dooryards picking up the refuse 

 from the table. They seem almost ab- 

 solutely without fear of man , and when 

 busily engaged in enjoyment of a meal 

 they can be approached within a very 

 few yards before they take wing. 



This will seem strange to people who 

 live in eastern states; where the^crow is 

 considered the shyest of wild birds. 



The farmer's boy who succeeds in 

 crawling within gunshot of a crow in 

 some parts of Indiana, Ohio, and Penn- 

 sylvania accomplishs a feat, that he may 

 well be proud of, but here any boy with 

 a nigger-shooter or flobert rifle can pop 

 away at them as if they were so many 

 barn-yard fowls. This domesticity of 

 of the Crow in this particular region is 

 a hard nut for Ornithologists to crack. 



We do know, however, that they con- 

 gregate here in countless numbers and 

 frequent the streets and byways of the 

 city with the impunity of the Buzzard 

 in Charleston or Savannah or the com- 

 mon tame Pigeon of any of the north- 

 ern cities. They are good scavengers 

 and deserve rigid protection. In olden 

 days the Crow was supposed to be gra - 

 niverous and was the least beloved of all 

 our native birds, but in these days of 

 scientific research and investigation the 

 Crow like many others is known not to 

 be nearly as black as he is painted, and 

 almost everywhere something like a 

 just sentiment prevails -toward our 

 Crows. 



This was brought about by a thorough 

 study of the habits and diet of the bird 

 and instead of being wholly or largely 

 grauiverous, they are almost insectiv- 

 erous and the amount of insect larvae 

 they destroy more than counterbalances 

 their destruction in the grain fields. 



This fact alone is sufficient to war- 

 rant their protection instead of the old 

 time persecution. Strictly speaking, 

 the Crow Avhile beiug an extremely 

 clean bird is omniverous; he will eat or 

 attempt to eat a door knob or railroad 

 spike with the same avidity that would 

 maik his attack on a sponge cake or 

 veal cutlet. He is a splendid scavenger 

 as [ said before and picks up and does 

 away with many a scrap of noxious 

 offal which otherwise would be left to 

 taint the air and breed disease. 



The Crow is an interesting study at 

 any or all times, and will repay anyone 

 who takes the trouble to watch and 



