THE CROW AND ITS RELATION" TO MAN. 73 



and sight was temporarily restored, but within half an hour the membrane 

 reformed and the patient would flutter about like a bird with the cerebellum 

 destroyed or with the eyes shot out. 



That death ensued from the acute disease and not merely from starvation 

 due to blindness was abundantly proved by caring for sick birds and forcing 

 food down their throats, for they died in nearly every instance. While it is 

 true that those birds which survived the disease were, in every instance, birds 

 that had been blinded in only one eye, we believe that this merely indicates 

 that the roup was less severe in those cases, which was the cause at the same 

 time of the slight affection of the eyes and of the bird's recovery. 



In 1901 E. J. Weith, of Elkhart, Ind., reported that he was con- 

 fident that 10,000 crows died within a radius of 2 miles of that place, 

 due, probably, to an epizootic of " roup." 1 



The late Prof. F. E. L. Beal related having seen birds at the roost 

 near Langdon, D. C, affected by this disease in the winter of 1901. 

 Several hundred birds, partially or totally blind, were noticed aim- 

 lessly pecking at branches and running their bills along them in a 

 fruitless endeavor to find food. These birds were too seriously 

 affected to accompany their companions on their daily search for 

 food. 



The writer has witnessed mild outbreaks of this disease at the 

 Langdon (D. C.) roost during the four winters from 1911-12 to 

 1914-15. In each year a few score of birds were found dead. All 

 the sick birds which were kept in captivity and forcibly fed died 

 within three or four days. During the winter of 1913-14 the dis- 

 ease was prevalent among crows throughout adjacent parts of Mary- 

 land and Virginia. 



In the reduction of the number of crows by natural agencies no 

 other single factor appears to be so potent as this disease. Birds 

 that do not succumb are often so enfeebled that their capture by 

 predatory animals is comparatively easy. 



PROTECTION OF CROPS. 



The ravages of crows upon fields of grain and other crops have 

 been matters of record almost from the beginning of agricultural 

 activities. Before the advent of firearms and the use of poisons 

 and deterrents of various kinds the protection of crops was in- 

 trusted entirely to " grain minders," whose constant presence in the 

 fields during all hours of daylight was necessary. When the early 

 colonists attempted to cultivate limited areas of corn and other grain 

 along the Atlantic slope, they found themselves confronted with 

 many of the same problems that had occupied their attention in 

 Europe. The American crows became as troublesome as the rooks, 

 hooded crows, and jackdaws had been in their former homes. Some 



1 Country Gentleman, LXVI, 2520, pp. 412-413, 1901. 



