THE OOLOQI8T 



122 



Why are the city House Sparrows 

 darker colored than their country re- 

 lations? 



How many varieties of North Ameri- 

 can birds' eggs are unltnown to 

 science? 



Why does the Crested Flycatcher 

 adorn her nest with a snakeskin? Is 

 it feminine vanity? 



Why does the Song Sparrow build 

 a la'rger nest in a bush than on the 

 ground? 



Why does the Rough-winged Swal- 

 low nest in a circular burrow and the 

 Bank Swallow in an elliptical one? 



Who destroy more bird-life, the 

 gunners or egg-collectors? 



Why does the law allow gunners to 

 murder thousands of game-birds an- 

 nually and refuse to permit an Oolo- 

 gist to collect their eggs? 



Richard P. Miller, 

 It appears to be quite the fa'd at 

 present for prominent men to issue a 

 questionnaire for the purpose of test- 

 ing the knowledge of their fellow man, 

 and sometimes, witness; the recent 

 performance of Thomas A. Edison, the 

 questionnaire is issued for the pur- 

 pose of estimating whether an appli- 

 cant fof- employment has the proper 

 mental foundation. We assume that 

 one or the other of the above causes 

 moved our friend Miller to issue the 

 foregoing. Whatever may have been 

 tne moving cause, we wonder how 

 many Oologists and Ornithologists 

 would grade in answering the above 

 questions. They are certainly an in- 

 teresting array. — Editor. 



A BIOGRAPHY OF THE AMERICAN 

 CROW 



(Continued from August issue) 

 They often interrupt Hawks when 

 they are peacefully engaged in hunting 

 their dinner, and while the Hawk 

 usually seeks relief by flight it will 

 occasionally give battle. These en- 

 counters often last for five or ten 

 minutes; the combatants swoop at 



each other, right themselves and re- 

 peat the blows. When there are sev- 

 eral Crows, the blows are dealt chiefly 

 by them, and the Hawk does not have 

 much chance to retaliate. Some of 

 these bouts appear rather playful for 

 a time, but the persistency of the 

 Crows show that they are in earnest. 

 After the Crow has pursued his hated 

 enemy for a long ways, and he has de- 

 cided that the glory of victory belongs 

 to him, you will see him returning 

 home flying in wide circles, in an 

 exact imitation of tht Hawk he ha's 

 just chased. The Crow seldom sails, 

 except when about to alight, and when 

 "showing off" in this amusing man- 

 ner. Once in a while the battle has 

 a different conclusion; another Hawk 

 appears upon the scene, and the 

 Crows, exhibiting cowardice, beat as 

 hasty a retreat as their wings will al- 

 low. The Kingbird, in a moment, can 

 make a Crow (and Hawk as well) flee 

 as fast as his wings can carry him. I 

 believe the Crow is really a coward at 

 heart. 



On several occasions I have seen 

 Crows pursue small animals. One 

 spring morning, as I was riding along 

 a country road near Buffalo Creek, I 

 ■saw two Crows chasing a gray tree- 

 squirrel. The squirrel seemed to be 

 getting the worst of it, for when ho 

 scampered up a tree the Crows easily 

 followed him, picking him in a lively 

 fashion; when he ran along the ground 

 or dodged behind logs the Crows were 

 at his heels, and in spite of all his 

 maneuvering to shake them off, tney 

 were still hot in pursuit when lost to 

 view. I could only conjecture what 

 the Crows' motive was; perhaps they 

 were having a little fun at the squir- 

 rels's expense; ma'ybe when they saw 

 this likely-looking squirrel, thoughts 

 of a dinner entered their heads; or, it 

 is possible they were doing it in a 

 spirit of revenge, for the squirrel is a 

 notorious nest robber. 

 At another time, when driving along 



