The Feud of the Crows and the Owl 



Bv FRANK M. CHAPMAN 



With photographs by the author 



NO one who is familiar with both the Crow and the Barred Owl will doubt 

 for a moment the existence of a long-standing feud between these two 

 l)ircl>. just why the Crow should cherish so intense an animosity against 

 the Owl I have never been able to understand, but certain it is that if, when 

 within hearing of Crows, I give utterance to the W Iwo-wlioo-whoo, too-ivhoo, too- 

 li'luw-ah, there is invariably a response. Whatever this call may mean to the 

 Owl, to the Crows it is evidently a challenge to combat, and before its echoes 

 have died away one hears the sharp caic-ard', which is unmistakably a rally-call 

 of the bird in l)lack, and is immediately repeated by every bird that hears it. 



A single utterance of the Owl's note is often sufficient to arouse the Crow-s, 

 and in a surprising!)- short time one has a throng of eager, inquisitive cawing 

 birds overhead, which have located the supposed Owl with unerring certainty. 



( )n many occasions, even at mid-day, my imitation of the Owl's call has 

 brought an Owl fnjm retirement with most disastrous results. Although these 

 birds can see far better in bright light than is generally supposed, they are no 

 match for the keen .T-eyed, more agile Crows, and my attemj)ts to deceive the 

 Crows has, I am sorry to say, placed more than one Owl in an exceedingly unpleas- 

 ant position as he has found himself surrounded on all sides by a black-coated 

 mob. 



Some years ago I decided to take advantage of this universal hatred {;f Owls,, 

 in order to secure photographs of Crows, which are usually so w^ary that they 

 ]jrove diflficult game for the bird photographer. I therefore borrowed from the 

 American Museum of Natural History, a mounted Barred Owl and placed it 

 within twenty feet of a hollow chestnut tree. This tree, an old landmark, was a 

 mere shell some twenty-five feet in circumference with a hollow nearly eight 

 feet in diameter. On several occasions I have used it as a camp in which to pass 

 the night, and long before I thought of employing the camera in the study of 

 birds, it had served admirably as a natural l)lind from the concealment of which 

 birds might readily be observed. 



The lens of my camera was pointed through a knot-hole, favorably situated on 

 the side of the tree facing the mounted Owl, and, after having made all necessary 

 arrangements as to focus, etc., I placed mv mouth at another knot-hole and gave 

 utterance to the call of the Barred Owl. Within a moment or two the expected 

 response came from a neighboring wood, and very shortly the usual throng of 

 Crows had gathered at the part of the woods nearest to the tree in which I was 

 concealed. From tliis ])oint, however, the birds hesitated to make an advance 

 into the open, either because their suspicions were aroused, or because they were 

 not accustomed to find Owls so far from dense cover. For some time, therefore, 

 ihey circlefl overhead in winged reconnaisance, imtil one of the birds actuallv 



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