138 



THE GAME BREEDER 



"MORE GAME" AND CROWS. 



By J. Freston. 



I have been an interested reader of 

 your publication for more than a year. 

 I have gotten much enjoyment and much 

 benefit out of the game and the hunting 

 thereof since I was first permitted to 

 take out my father's old muzzle-loader, 

 so I am with you for "more game." 



It is in the interest of "more game" 

 that I am going to tell you about the 

 crows and their work, and in the hope 

 that we can all work to develop a 

 remedy. 



Last spring Dan Barnard had a wood- 

 cock's nest in his swamp and a partridge 

 (ruffed grouse) nest with 14 eggs at the 

 edge of his woods, and he kept a friendly 

 eye on them, as Dan is a hunter, too. 



One day he found the woodcock gone 

 and the four eggs punctured and sucked 

 by the crows, and a few days later he 

 visited the partridge nest and found the 

 same thing there — 14 punctured eggs 

 and the partridge gone. 



Theo. Rhoades and Fred Taber of 

 this place were hunting quail a few 

 years ago, when quail were plenty here, 

 and they saw a crow flying after a flying 

 quail — diving this way and that as the 

 quail dodged, and finally catching it 

 when the quail dove into a bunch of deep 

 grass. They were able to kill the crow 

 and get the quail, which he had already 

 killed. 



Joe Kaley of this place saw a crow 

 drop down out of a maple tree over the 

 road and catch a young chick partly 

 grown and only fifteen feet from him — 

 and the crow got away with it, too. 



Now we have a colony of crows that 

 roost on the bank of the Hudson across 

 from Poughkeepsie — thousands and 

 thousands of them — and each morning 

 they spread out over the country for 

 miles around and are hunting all day 

 long till they come home in droves or 

 strings from all directions at night or 

 just about dusk. 



The result is that we no longer have 

 the song of the quail in the land; the 



woodcock has become very scarce, and 

 the partridge is almost extinct; and I 

 blame the crow more than any other one 

 or half dozen causes for it. I have seen 

 dozens of empty birds' eggs in my gar- 

 den, under shade trees, on the road, but 

 I never realized till Dan Barnard told 

 me of the work they had done that it 

 was the crow's work and that each shell 

 meant a robbed bird's nest. 



Is there anything that can be said in '■ 

 favor of the crow ? Is he an insect 

 eater, a weed destroyed, a food producer 

 or an ornament? Does he sing? He is 

 not, and he does not. But he is a per- 

 sistent destroyer of the birds that do^ 

 these things, and he has so increased in 

 numbers in the last couple of years that 

 he has cleaned out most of our game, 

 and I come to you for a remedy. 



I did not realize till a few days ago 

 how much the crow had done. Then I 

 spent the afternoon with dog and gun 

 tramping through the hills and moun- 

 tains, through swales, over ground that 

 had always shown me birds before, but 

 I was unable to find a bird — on ground 

 that T knew was first-class partridge 

 ground — ^but they were gone ; and I had 

 pictures in my mind of the crows search- 

 ing out the. nests, sucking the eggs or 

 killing the young, as I know they can do. 



They are too wise to be shot or 

 trapped, . so . the only remedy left is 

 poison. And now comes the question: 

 Is it justified and is it necessary? Can 

 the crow fill the place of the game and 

 song birds he has destroyed, is destroy- 

 ing or is going to destroy? 



It is up to you to find the answer. 

 Very truly yours. 



For more game. J. Freston. 



New York. 



More About the Crow. 



We have published much about the crow 

 and the necessity for its control. ,We have 

 made also some practical experiments, con- 



(Continued on page 144.) 



