THE AMERICAlSr CEOW. 409 



knife as before, it bit the person's hand so hard that it caused him to drop 

 the knife, which was quickly picked up by the bird, who then flew away witli it. 

 This Httle incident plainly shows its reasoning jDowers. 



In the mixed woods near Holland Patent, New York, a species of Helix is 

 very abundant, and one finds many empty shells from which the animal has 

 been extracted by these birds. Apparently nothing- seems to affbrd more satis- 

 faction to a Crow than to be able to harass every Owl it may see, as well as 

 the larger Hawks, but occasionally it pays rather dearly for such sport. 



Mr. J. W. Preston, of Baxtei', Iowa, writes me about these birds as follows: 

 "One winter morning, while on my way to a country school, where I was teach- 

 ing at the time, a Crow was worrying a Red-tailed Hawk, and as it darted at 

 the fleeing bird it made a quick grasp, turning completely over in mid-air, but 

 succeeded in catching the Crow, which it bore down to the ground dead. 



"I have seen a Crow carry a piece of meat quite a long distance in its 

 claws. The Crow is terribly destructive to young birds and eggs in the nest. 

 It is pauaful to see their havoc and hear the pitiful cries of the parent birds. 

 One such occurrence noted was that of a pair of Red-eyed Vireos following close 

 after the Crow, scolding and crying as their nest and young birds were being 

 carried across the field, a choice morsel for young Crows. 



"The loss occasioned to farmers from their habit of carrying away eggs is 

 very considerable. I remember a brood of fourteen plump young chicks that 

 were all devoured by the daring fellows. I had allowed them to nest and rear 

 their young in a grove 10 rods from the door, and thus they repaid the kindness. 

 I have seen them feed from the raw back of a live hog which had accidentally 

 been left out of shelter and had been somewhat frozen. 



"In a woods near our home was a famous Crow's roost. During the winter 

 of 1891-92 the number was estimated at forty thousand birds. About sunset 

 they came in small flocks and straggling companies from long distances away, 

 gathering into great flocks on pastures and meadows, so thick as to look like 

 plowed land. In the dusk of evening the trees on a whole hillside appeared 

 like a dark bank, so vast was the rookery. We visited this resort often after 

 dark to hear the varied sounds that ever arose from the restless, scolding birds, 

 whose voices were easily heard a mile distant. A whistle or shout was cause for 

 alarm, and the entire flock would rise up like a dark cloud, and the beating of 

 wings sounded like a strong wind. Sometimes they would fly a mile ofi", and, 

 returning, circle about and begin settling much as Chimney Swallows do, 

 striking each other and the branches with their wings; the din of quarreling for 

 places, changing, and flying up and down was terrible; some cawed loudly, 

 others muffled the tones ; some imitated the cry of a child, and some the squawk 

 of a chicken; but the combined effect was a vast, weird wail that reverberated 

 through the forest and died away on the night winds." 



In the West I have never seen any very large Crow roosts in winter, although 

 the birds were quite common at Fort Lapwai, Idaho; Camp Harney, Oregon, 

 and in the Walla Walla Valley, Washington, at all seasons. In California they are 

 also common in the larger river bottoms, but on the whole are rather irregularly 



