THE CROW AND ITS RELATION TO MAN. 79 



mounted bird in a favorable place and carefully concealing himself 

 he gave the call of the barred owl and — 



in 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 * * *. For some time * * * 

 they circled overhead in winged reconnaissance until one of the birds actually 

 saw the mounted owl in the tree below. Caution was at once abandoned, and, 

 uttering the battle cry of his kind, he, with his fellows, advanced to the attack. 

 A dozen or more of the birds took up positions in or near the tree in which the 

 owl sat so calmly * * *. 



Justus von Lengerke, writing to the Biological Survey, says that 

 hundreds of crows are killed in spring and fall by using great horned 

 owls to decoy them to the gun, thus giving the farmers within a 

 radius of several miles much relief from the crow nuisance. 



Regarding the use of crows in place of other live birds or '•' clay 

 pigeons" in trap shooting, Henry W. Foster, of the Philadelphia 

 Academy of Natural Sciences, stated in a recent communication : 



Many crows have been trapped and used for shooting, including both species, 

 but, so far as my meager observations go, the practice does not seem to have 

 diminished their number. 



In the same connection, Mrs. George S. Morris, of Olney, Phila- 

 delphia, Pa., has written that about 15 years ago great numbers of 

 crows were caught and used in place of pigeons for trap shooting. 

 This was kept up for several years and had a distinct effect on their 

 numbers. To capture crows for use in this way a dead horse or 

 cow was placed in a field as a bait. When the crows had assem- 

 bled on the carcass in great numbers a net, operated from a distance 

 by a cord, was sprung over them. 



The possibilities of crow shooting as a means of sport have 

 appeared so favorable, as well as so fitting a way to reduce the num- 

 ber of these birds in restricted areas, that crow decoys and " calls " 

 have been manufactured and placed on the market. 



The systematic destruction of crows' nests has frequently brought 

 about desirable results in farming communities where woodlands 

 border the fields in which tempting crops are raised. This pro- 

 cedure also has been adopted successfully in cases where the parent 

 birds habitually visit some particular poultry yard in search of eggs 

 or young chicks. In winter, when these birds gather in large numbers 

 at their roosts, raids by gunners for several successive nights usually 

 cause them to move on. In thickly settled areas where the discharge 

 of firearms would be inadvisable Roman candles shot among the 

 roosting birds should bring about the same result. 



In summing up it must be said that, with the possible exception 

 of the protection of sprouting grain by means of deterrents, no single 

 method for the protection of crops against crows can be considered 



