114 



The Crow. 



moles, which but for his efficient and never 

 ceasing pursuit would live and reproduce 

 their kind to the enormous injury of the 

 agriculturist. It would be hard to say 

 whether the Crow does most harm or good. 

 The question has been many times ably 

 debated by those in favor of and those 

 opposed to the bird, but it has never been 

 decided, and perhaps never will be. We 

 strongly incline to the belief that he is a 

 benefit rather than an injury to the farmer, 

 but this view is quite opposed to the gen- 

 eral opinion held of him. 



The Crow has a wide range, inhabiting 

 almost the entire continent of North 

 America, except the Arctic regions. The 

 Crows of Florida and California are slightly 

 different from those of Eastern North 

 America, but these differences are too 

 slight to be noticed except by the practiced 

 ornithologist. In the Eastern States the 

 Crow is with us all the year round, though 

 probably the birds which we see in winter 

 are not the same ones that live here in sum- 

 mer. At whatever season of the year we 

 find them they are the same wary, careful, 

 and yet sedate and dignified birds. If they 

 have the least suspicion that harm to them 

 is intended, they will not permit a near ap- 

 proach, while on the other hand if they feel 

 confident that a person has no means of injur- 

 ing them, they will sit on a tree and allow 

 him to come very near. In winter when 

 the ground is frozen and covered with snow 

 the Crows are sometimes hard pushed to 

 make a living. At such times they often 

 congregate in great numbers on the sea- 

 shore, and feed on the clams, mussels and 

 other shellfish left bare by the retreating 

 tide. Here they mingle with the snowy 

 plumaged gulls, and the flocks of black and 

 white birds spend their time together until 

 forced ashore by the rising waters. 



About the first of April the Crows 

 begin to build their nests, but long before 

 that — sometimes as early as the first warm 

 days of February — great flocks of them 



gather in the tall trees of some wood and 

 hold a convention, which seems to be, in 

 part at least, devoted to the choosing of 

 mates for the ensuing season. The males 

 talk a great deal, and may be seen sailing 

 here and there far up in the sky, and we 

 presume that the females sit about in the 

 treetops and watch the evolutions of their 

 sable suitors. When all preliminaries are 

 arranged and the time for building has 

 come, both male and female begin to gather 

 materials for the nest. This is composed 

 in the main of stout twigs, which are some- 

 times torn from the living branches, and 

 is lined with mud and moss, over which is 

 placed cedar bark in fine strips, or some- 

 times hair and wool. The nest is usually 

 placed in a rather tall forest tree, but some- 

 times a cedar of moderate size is chosen. 

 It is a large and roomy structure, as in- 

 deed it must be to contain the four or five 

 nearly full grown young which are ulti- 

 mately to inhabit it. During the time 

 when the mother is sitting on the pale- 

 green, brown-dotted eggs, her mate car- 

 ries food to her, and sometimes takes her 

 place on the nest for a time while she flies 

 off to get a little exercise and rest. AVhen 

 the young are hatched, both father and 

 mother have to work hard to satisfy the 

 cravings of their voracious brood. In go- 

 ing to and from the nest the old birds are 

 careful to avoid attracting attention, but 

 its location is often revealed by the cries 

 of the young, which, when they are hungry, 

 keep up a persistent croaking, which is 

 readily recognized by any one who has ' 

 ever heard it. 



'I'he young Crows when first hatched 

 are tiny, naked creatures, remarkable for 

 nothing except their enormous appetites. 

 They grow rapidly, and before long are 

 nearly as large as their parents. When 

 taken from the nest young they make 

 most interesting and amusing pets, being 

 extremely intelligent and becoming per- 

 fectly tame so as not to require confine- 



