NATURAL HISTORY. 



When a bird or a wild animal is killed, that is the end of it. If photographed, it may still live and its 

 educational and scientific value is multiplied indefinitely. 



THE CROW MUST GO. 



I have written repeatedly of the dastardly 

 work of the crow, but he has not yet had 

 all that is coming to him. 



The L. A. S. has done rnuch good, and 

 I hope will still do good, but the first thing 

 that demands its attention is the crow. We 

 are putting a stop to the man with the gun 

 and now many of us believe that is all there 

 is to be done ; that nature will care for it- 

 self if we only see that the laws are en- 

 forced. It does look that way to the man 

 who lies abed till the sun is an hour or 2 

 high; but let the same man be up and away 

 with the first light of day, and if he is at 

 all observing he will soon see and know 

 that we have a greater enemy than the man 

 with the gun. The crow will follow civil- 

 ization to the ends of the earth if there are 

 a few trees in the neighborhood where he 

 can build a nest. If he can not find carrion 

 to eat, he will rob the domesticated hens' 

 nests, and when the barnyard fails to sup- 

 ply him with foocLhe will take what he can 

 find from the State in the shape of eggs 

 and young of the song, insectiveorous and 

 game birds. 



I am glad to see that other students of 

 nature have observed the same thing I 

 have. Articles have been published from 

 time to time in Recreation, from people all 

 over the United States, telling of the depre- 

 dations of the crow. In an article in 

 Recreation, from Devil's Lake, N. D., the 

 nesting place of many of our water fowl, 

 the writer endorses my statement, of sev- 

 eral years ago : "A substantial bounty per 

 head on all crows killed during the nest- 

 ing season will assist in the preservatioon 

 of our fast disappearing water fowl." 



Many of our States prohibit spring shoot- 

 ing, yet the crow thrives and will get fat as 

 a consequence. No one ever claims that 

 crows are getting fewer. Thev do not fly 

 in bunches ready to alight with any stray 

 bunch of decoys. Neither do they fly in 

 coveys, like prairie chickens and quails. 

 Do you know of any bird or mammal that 

 hunts for the nesting place of the crows 

 and destroys their eggs or the young? 

 Crows' eggs always hatch and the young 

 always grow to maturity. 



W. L. Blinn, Rockford, 111. 



For a long time I believed that the good 

 the crow does in eating bugs and worms 

 counterbalanced the evil he does ; but I 

 have changed my mind completely on this 

 subject and am now advising sportsmen 

 everywhere to declare war on him. A long 



time ago I printed an editorial approving 

 of the action of a party of sportsmen some- 

 where who organized and conducted a big 

 side hunt in which the shooting was con- 

 fined to crows and English sparrows, and I 

 would be glad if sportsmen would conduct 

 such side hunts wherever these 2 species of 

 vermin exist. 



I should indeed be glad to see laws en- 

 acted providing for a bounty of 10 cents a 

 head on crows ; but this would be well nigh 

 impossible. The farmers wield too big an 

 influence in most Legislatures to allow such 

 a bill to go through. It would mean an 

 expenditure of thousands of dollars, and 

 the farmers would claim that such a law 

 would be entirely in the interest of city 

 sportsmen. We would not agree with this, 

 but the other fellows would probably talk 

 us down. We are urging 'the passage of 

 such laws, and I am sure that 9 out of 

 every 10 League members will agree with 

 me in this. 



I think I shall draft a bill providing for 

 a bounty on the heads of crows and send it 

 to all our chief wardens in the States in- 

 habitated by these birds, with the recom- 

 mendation that they introduce it in their re- 

 spective Legislatures and push it. — Editor. 



DO PHEASANTS FAST WHILE SITTING? 

 When I first intrusted some of my golden 

 and Amherst pheasants with the incubation 

 of their own eggs, I was surprised at not 

 seeing them off their nests for food or 

 drink at any time during" the 22 to 24 days 

 required for hatching. I never supplied 

 our birds with food over night, so we con- 

 cluded these sitters came off their nests at 

 daylight, took a drink, scratched up what 

 gleanings they could find from the grain 

 thrown to the other pheasants the previous 

 evening, and returned to their respective 

 nests. We have since proven conclusively, 

 however, that they went us even one better. 

 They never leave their nests from the time 

 they commence incubation until the young 

 are hatched, and they were given no food 

 nor water, either by us or the male pheas- 

 ants, during that time. This seems hard to 

 believe ; it was for us, but we proved it in 

 several ways, and have also received con- 

 firmation from other people. At the expi- 

 ration of the fast the hens come off with 

 their little amber and brown striped chicks, 

 in fine condition, and are extremely watch- 

 ful, gentle and proud of their little ones. 

 L. R., Detroit, Mich. 



I referred the foregoing letter to a friend 



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