98 OUR WINTER BIRDS 



Unfortunately for the Crow this is not the atti- 

 tude of the world toward him. By both man and 

 bird he is treated as an outlaw. The former denies 

 him the protection his laws are designed to give 

 other birds, the latter seems to consider him a great 

 black ogre with whom no self-respecting bird would 

 associate. 



^ Whether the Indian treated the Crow as an enemy 

 I do not know, but ever since the white man came 

 to this country his hand has been raised against this 

 bird of sable pinion. The Indian has long since dis- 

 appeared from most of the country in which he for- 

 merly thrived, but the Crow Is doubtless as abundant 

 to-day as he ever was. Unable to kill Crows as 

 readily as he did savages, civilized man marks his 

 indignant if harmless protest against them by placing 

 scarecrows in the fields from which the birds still 

 take their toll. This consists not alone of corn but 

 also of injurious grubs. In the pastures and grass- 

 lots the Crow also captures countless grasshoppers, 

 so that he is not without some value to man. In- 

 deed, those who have most closely studied his fare, 

 tell us that he does quite as much good as harm. 



The Crow owes his remarkable success in life to 

 his Intelligence. He may be over-suspicious at times, 

 but you can't fool him often. When it comes to a 

 matching of wits in the woods he will usually out- 



