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useful for destroying* vermin, would be as consolatory 
as to tell him who had just lost his house and furniture 
by the flames, that fires are excellent for destroying* 
bugs. 
The strong attachment of the crows to this spot may 
be illustrated by the following circumstance : Some 
years ago, a sudden and violent northeast storm came 
on during the night, and the tide, rising to an uncommon 
height, inundated the whole island. The darkness of 
the night, the suddenness and violence of the storm, 
and the incessant torrents of rain that fell, it is supposed, 
so intimidated the crows, that they did not attempt to 
escape, and almost all perished. Thousands of them 
were next day seen floating in the river ; and the wind, 
shifting to the northwest, drove their dead bodies to the 
Jersey side, where for miles they blackened the whole 
shore. 
This disaster, however, seems long ago to have been 
repaired ; for they now congregate on the Pea Patch 
in as immense multitudes as ever.* 
So universal is the hatred to crows, that few states 
either here or in Europe, have neglected to offer rewards 
for their destruction. In the United States, they have 
been repeatedly ranked in our laws with the wolves, 
the panthers, foxes, and squirrels, and a proportionable 
premium offered for their heads, to be paid by any 
justice of the peace to whom they are delivered. On 
* The following is extracted from the late number of a newspaper 
printed in that neighbourhood ; — 
“ The farmers of Red Lion Hundred held a meeting at the 
village of St George’s, in the state of Delaware, on Monday the 
6th inst. to receive proposals of John Deputy, on a plan for banish- 
, ing or destroying the crows. Mr Deputy’s plan, being heard and 
considered, was approved, and a committee appointed to contract 
with him, and to procure the necessary funds to carry the same 
into effect. Mr Deputy proposes, that for five hundred dollars he 
. will engage to kill or banish the crows from their roost on the 
Pea Patch, and give security to return the money on failure. 
66 The sum of five hundred dollars being thus required, the 
committee beg leave to address the farmers and others of Newcastle 
county and elsewhere on the subject. ” 
