78 BULLETIN 621, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
more quickly and its effectiveness will last for a considerable time 
even when exposed to weather : 
Corn 20 quarts. 
Strychnin (powdered) 1 ounce. 
Starch 2 tablespoonfuls. 
Water 1$ pints. 
Mix the starch and strychnin in the water and heat to boiling, stirring thor- 
oughly after the starch begins to thicken. Pour this mixture over the corn and 
stir till every kernel is coated. The corn may then be spread out and dried. 
Successful results also have been obtained by the use of partially 
blown hens' eggs into which a small quantity of strychnin has been 
injected. These should be placed on the tops of stacks or in inclosures 
from which poultry and all farm animals are barred. Carrion or 
meat of any kind is another convenient and efficient medium for the 
poison. Such bait works best in winter when the birds are hard 
pressed for food. 
TRAPPING. 
Trapping has brought relief at times when other methods have 
failed. No wholesale reduction in the number of crows has ever been 
accomplished by this method, but when once a few of these birds are 
trapped and their dead bodies hung up about the fields their rela- 
tives are inclined to shun the immediate vicinity. These birds have 
been secured mainly in steel traps carefully concealed and baited 
with hens' eggs. 
SHOOTING. 
Continued persecution of crows with firearms has at times brought 
relief from their depredations, but the unusual wariness of these 
birds has made this method of killing them difficult. The use of crow 
decoys and crow " calls " to attract them within gunshot has been 
resorted to with more or less success. Placing a stuffed owl in a 
conspicuous place and within easy gunshot has been successful in 
luring number of crows to a point where they can be shot. 
Writing of the fish crow in this connection, Louis A. Zerega 
states : 1 
Mr. Keller shot most of the specimens that were killed by him from the 
cover of a "blind" over "decoys" (which are simply pieces of blackened 
pasteboard of bird shape, set up at different angles so as to present a side 
toward each direction). As the crows fly over they see the "decoys" and, 
supposing the place to be a good feeding ground, fly toward it; I have even 
seen common crows alight before discovering their mistake. 
Frank M. Chapman gives an interesting account 2 of an attack 
made by crows upon a mounted barred owl. After placing the 
iBull. Nuttall Orn. Club, V, No. 4, p. 206, October, 1880 
2 Bird Lore, XI, No. 1, p. 4, January-February, 1909. 
