EELATION TO AGRICULTURE 45 



evil as lie is sometimes said to be. He is, however, 

 an admitted devourer of com and in the spring 

 has a suspicious fondness for sprouting grain. 

 On the other hand, the crow is in part an insec- 

 tivorous bird, and the values of insects and 

 grain consumed very nearly counterbalanced each 

 other. But, added to his predilection for grain, 

 he is a thief, a destroyer of bird-nests, and an 

 eater of eggs. To offset these crimes he is a scav- 

 enger. It is to be feared that the scales of justice 

 weigh unfavorably against him. 



In days gone by great damage was inflicted 

 upon grain-fields by the passenger pigeon. Both 

 in the spring and at harvest time great flocks of 

 these birds would descend upon the fields. So in- 

 calculable were their numbers that, though each in- 

 dividual might pick up only a few grains, the total 

 amount consumed was enormous. The passen- 

 ger pigeon has now disappeared, ruthlessly ex- 

 terminated, and in the East and Middle West a 

 sparse scattering of mourning doves remains in 

 its place. What grain they pick up is waste 

 material, gleanings from the harvest. They are 

 weed-eaters, not destroyers of grain; decidedly 

 they are a beneficial species. 



The same cannot be said of the English 

 sparrow. It is a bird that does not belong, a 

 stranger within our territory, an inveterate con- 

 sumer of small grain. Unlike the majority of 

 finches and sparrows it has no real liking for 



