42 THE COMMON CROW. 



In regard to the birds attacked, it is undoubtedly true that the 

 smaller kinds suffer most. 



In the American Naturalist for April, 1874, Caroline Boyce speaks of 

 the Crow in eastern New York as follows: " The Crow commits fearful 

 and cruel depredations on the robin and his belongings. The species 

 is a bitter foe to all smaller birds, and keeps them in severe check." 



Robert T. Morris wrote to Forest and Stream, in July, 187G: "By 

 the time the youDg Crows are hatched [in New England and New York] 

 the smaller birds are nesting, and it is at this season that the Crow is 

 most destructive. The eggs and young of the smaller birds are appro- 

 priated by it on every opportunity for at least two months in the 

 year. * * * I have known a pair of Crows to destroy the young in 

 three robins' nests in one day." 



In the August number (1876) of the same journal Oliver D. Shock, of 

 Hamburg, Pa., wrote: "In the spring, when other birds are building 

 their nests * * * the insectivorous tribe suffer most severely from 

 these black marauders, as no sooner does the Crow find a nest than it 

 pounces on the innocent occupants, and be they eggs or birds they will 

 be devoured. * . * * I have frequently seen them near my residence, 

 on the banks of the Schuylkill Eiver, pounce down upon an innocent 

 robin sitting upon her nest, make her abandon it, and then gobble up 

 the nestful of embryo songsters." 



These visits are not always seen, as the Crow approaches the nest 

 either by stealth or by sudden assault during the absence of the pa- 

 rent birds, well knowing that by so doing he avoids the attacks of the 

 nest owners and their friends and sympathizers. The smaller spar- 

 rows, finches, and warblers are unable to make much resistance, but 

 the Crow prefers larger eggs and young, and the attacks of robins 

 and blackbirds, especially when several pairs combine, are not to be 

 despised. The following account by Montague Chamberlain, of St. 

 John, New Brunswick, illustrates a form of strategy to which the wily 

 Crow sometimes resorts: "I was attracted to a bunch of trees by a 

 commotion among a troop of robins, and discovered some six indi- 

 viduals fiercely attacking a Crow, a second black form being detected 

 skulking some little distance away. Presently Crow No. 1 flew off, fol- 

 lowed by the entire mob of excited redbreasts, when Crow No. 2 made 

 a dash into the trees, and emerged with an unfledged robin grasped in 

 his dexter claws, the youngster kicking and piping lustily. The cries 

 brought back the guardians, who at once gave chase to the captor, and 

 while they were off in one direction Crow No. 1 charged the nest from 

 an opposite point, and retired with another of the brood firmly held in 

 his claws." (The Auk, I, 1884, p. 92.) 



Accounts of similar attacks on small birds have been received from 

 correspondents with considerable frequency. One of the recent reports 

 came from F. E. Welsh, of Philadelphia, Pa., in a letter dated May 29, 

 1893. It is as follows: "Yesterday afternoon I was attracted by the 



