58 



BIRDS OF A MARYLAND FARM. 



der watched from a brush shelter in the roiddle of the field and, when- 

 ever a crow appeared, frightened it away with a thundering report. 

 If the lield was left unguarded for an}" length of time, the crows were 

 sure to make havoc among the melons. Since they would never come 

 within gunshot if they knew an3^bod3" was watching, attempts were 

 made to destroy them by a stratagem; two men would enter the brush 

 house and one of them would soon leave, hoping to delude the crows 

 into thinking that the house was empty, so that they would venture 

 within range of the second man's gun. The plan worked only in the 

 first few trials, however. The farmers at Marshall Hall maintain that 

 crows can count up to three, for they could not be hoodwinked unless 

 three men left the house and a fourth remained to shoot. 



Fig. 21.— Melons damaged by crows. 



WILD FRUIT. 



Wild fruit formed 10.12 percent of the food of the 615 birds col- 

 lected, and had been eaten by 120. Both examination of stomachs and 

 notes of field work showed how important an element it is in the food 

 supply of many species. 



Smilax. — The catbird, which, with the possible exception of the cedar 

 bird, is the most conspicuous frugivorous species on the farm, ate in 

 Ma}^ when it arrived from the South, the winter-cured berries of 

 smilax. Out of 13 individuals collected May 17-20, 1899, 5 had made 

 from 15 to 10 percent of their diet on these husks in preference, as 

 has alread}" been said, to the feast spread in the strawberry patch. 



