ed is that of coating the corn with tar. This gives a bitter taste to the 
kernel, so the Crows let it alone after pulling up one or two spears. The 
usual way of preparing the corn is to pour hot water over it and let it soak 
awhile ; then for every bushel of corn, put in perhaps a half pint of 
North Carolina tar,' as it is labeled This is better than the coal tar 
because it does not have to be melted. The water is then poured off and 
plaster, ashes, or sand is mixed to keep the kernels from sticking together. 
This hinders the growth probably a day or two, but it is a perfect pro¬ 
tection from the Crows. Last Spring our tarred corn gave out and we 
finished the last row of one piece with clean corn. After it had come up, 
we found that the Crows had pulled every spear of this corn, while the 
tarred corn at its side was hardly touched. The damage done to corn is 
not confined to the first few days. When it is in the milky state, they 
tear the husks and eat oft the kernels at the tips of the ears. The harm 
done in this way is not great ; the Purple Crackles, Red-winged Black¬ 
birds and English Sparrows doing vastly more damage than the Crows. 
On the other hand, the Crows undoubtedly eat injurious insects, mice, 
moles, snakes, etc. April 15, 1893, 1 saw a Crow kill a grass-snake. It 
would have eaten the snake had not some boys frightened it away. Dur¬ 
ing Spring-plowing the Crows follow in the furrow to get the grubs that 
are turned up. Crows are much less abundant here to-day than ten years 
ago, and I am told that thirty years ago there were twenty where now 
there is one." 
Frederick M 1 >i 1 le. Denver, Colo. " The American Crow breeds in con¬ 
siderable numbers along the courses of the South Platte and its tributa¬ 
ries in North-Eastern Colorado, although confined principally to the Val 
ley of the- Platte I have found it breeding in the near vicinity of Greely, 
but from a point about eight miles below the town and down the river 1 
used to find their nests quite abundant. In the groves of native cotton¬ 
woods, which are to be found scattered along the streams, the nests would 
be located ; but a sufficient number could rarely be found in the same 
grove to justify one in saving that it colonizes to any extent. On an 
island, however, of about two acres extent, located in the middle of the 
stream, I found at one time five nests all containing eggs or voting.. The 
trees here were not as tall by half as those on the main shore opposite, 
but I suppose the Crows considered it a more secure locality for their 
nests, and I thought the same at the time, as I waded through the turbu¬ 
lent stream up to my waist in the water, in order to reach the island. 
‘ There have been years when I have traveled not a little up and down 
the river without finding a nest, nor could I hear of any, by inquiry, from 
people living at lower points on the river These periods of total absence. 
