44 THE COMMON CROW. 



in 1885 that lie bad seen Crows catch and carry to their nests 8 or 10 

 young bank swallows which were feathered out. In the summer of 

 1889 the writer saw a Grow start from the top of a high tree in pursuit 

 of a meadow lark (probably young) which was crossing the field below. 

 The Grow almost reached its intended victim before the latter was 

 aware that it was followed, but by a vigorous use of its wings, and 

 much sharp dodging and twisting, it finally escaped, though the chase 

 lasted several minutes. 



Dr. W. S. Strode, of Bernadotte, Fulton Gounty, 111., wrote to the 

 Department as follows: u On April 20, 1888, a farmer from the prairie 

 south of town reported to me that the Grows were killing prairie hens 

 on his farm, chasing them till worn out and then killing and eating 

 them." 



It is well known that the nests of game birds are occasionally plun- 

 dered by Grows, but except under unusual circumstances the harm is 

 not serious. As a rule it may be assumed that our native game birds 

 are able to hide their nests so as to escape the keen eyes of the Crow. 

 Those which lay light-colored eggs, as the bobwhite, probably run most 

 risk, but the parent birds are protectively colored, and the eggs are 

 seldom left uncovered for any length of time. The nests of waterfowl 

 are subject to the attacks of Crows, which hang about the breeding- 

 places, always ready to take advantage of any emergency which may 

 expose the eggs or young. In some cases waterfowl evidently depend 

 upon their own presence in numbers to prevent loss, and many species 

 carefully cover their eggs with leaves, moss, or other substances, when 

 they leave them, so that they are not readily discovered. 



In the case of most birds nesting in colonies, however, some loss is 

 likely to occur, and occasionally the persecution by Crows may be suffi- 

 cient to break up the colony, as in the following instance related by 

 Mr. A. G. Van Aken: ' " About ten pairs of night herons (Nyctiardea 

 grisea) and three pairs of little blue herons (Ardea ccerulea) have 

 nested for a few years within the corporate limits of the city of New 

 Brunswick, N. J. When I visited this heronry late in April, 1882, I 

 discovered that one nest already contained four eggs, two others each 

 three, several more one and two, while the remainder were as yet empty. 

 About two weeks later, after climbing up to a number of nests, and 

 passing from the top of one tree to another, where this was practica- 

 ble, thus examining nearly all, I was surprised to find each empty, 

 though the old birds fluttered overhead or alighted near by. At the 

 base of many of the trees in which nests were situated lay the eggs 

 with pieces broken out and the meat gone. I suspected two parties of 

 the robbing, either the red squirrel (Sciurus Imdsonius) that I saw some 

 distance away, or else a number of Crows that were perched in a neigh- 

 boring tree cawing lustily. On May 20 I examined the nests a third 



Ornithologist and Oologist, Vol. VIII, 1883, pp. 46-47. 



