84 THE COMMON CROW. 



r 

 sweet, and tender variety. A visit to the tree proved my surmise to be 

 correct. They had destroyed quite a number of apples by pecking out 

 from a quarter to a half. When the stem would give way, the apple 

 fell and another would be attacked. This may be nothing new, but in 

 living on a farm constantly visited by Crows for nearly thirty years I 

 have never had occasion to accuse them of this mischief before, though 

 the indictment was strong enough without it." 



Similar complaints have been received from other parts of Massa- 

 chusetts, from Maine, Vermont, New York, and even from British 

 Columbia. 



Mr. Allan C. Brooks, of Chilliwack, British Columbia, writes: 

 "Their worst offense is the destruction of apples. As soon as the sal- 

 mon that ascend the river in the fall are all eaten, the Crows, which 

 have congregated in immense flocks, attack the orchards in the vicinity. 

 I have seen a line orchard with seven-eighths of the apples broken into/' 

 The bird may have been the Northwest Fish Crow (Corvus caurinus) 

 instead of the Common Crow. 



In the fall of 1893 Mr. Clayton E. Stone, of Lunenburg, Worcester 

 County, Mass., found the Crows eating Baldwin apples regularly, and 

 samples were sent to the division for examination. On further investi- 

 gation Mr. Stone found that the Crows visited the orchards in small 

 parties, often in twos or threes, coming very quietly and usually early 

 in the morning. So far as could be learned, no apples were carried- 

 away, but a great many were knocked off the trees, and many were 

 pecked into and left to decay. 



Several correspondents in eastern Pennsylvania and one in Virginia 

 have known Crows to feed on pears, sometimes doing considerable 

 damage. 



Figs. — Crows are known to eat figs, but the evidence on this point is 

 scanty at present. Very few stomachs were received from regions 

 where this fruit is raised, and these contained no traces of figs. In 

 California Mr. T. S. Palmer saw a flock of Crows feeding on figs at the 

 Tejon Ranch, in Kern County, early in July. The birds frequented 

 the orchard morning and evening, and several would often alight 

 together on a tree and eagerly devour the ripening fruit. It was said 

 that no small proportion of the crop was taken by Crows and other 

 birds. 



Crows are, however, comparatively rare in the southern part of the 

 United States during summer, and this fact shows that such injuries 

 are only local, and precludes the probability of any considerable loss 

 on account of their fondness for figs. 



Watermelons. — Complaints of injury to watermelons have been rather 

 frequent, mainly from Kansas, Kentucky, Virginia, South Carolina, 

 Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas, although there are enough from other 

 States to show that the crop is likely to be attacked wherever grown. 



