374 
BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 
From J. Y. Henry Knott, Kingston, N. Y.: 
I have seen the common crow eat eggs, and have caught him by baiting a steel-trap with an 
egg. The man in charge of the gas-works at Saugerties told me this spring that he had to cover 
his chicken-yard with wire to save the chickens from the crows, and that he saw them catch the 
chickens repeatedly. 
From Frank B. Hancock, Casky, Ky.: 
The common crow undoubtedly catches young chickens and steals eggs. They have caused 
me more trouble in that respect than hawks. My home is situated on the south side ol a wood¬ 
land. A colony of crows located in that woodland in 1870. This spring (1885) I have watched them 
carefully, and have seen them steal chickens before they were past the downy stage and carry 
them away to their young. 1 have one crow family charged with $25 worth of nice chicks stolen 
in April and May, 1885. 
Destruction of Eggs and Young of Wild Birds. 
No observant person will deny that the crow does serious damage to the eggs and 
young of wild birds. The instances of such depredation which have come within 
the knowledge of most farmers or other persons living in the country are far too 
numerous to leave a shadow of doubt on this score in any unprejudiced mind. 
Yet for every instance of such robbery witnessed by man thousands must take 
place without his knowledge. Persecution by crows is doubtless a very large factor 
among the influences which cause so many birds to crowd about human habitations 
during the nesting season, and yet the relentless crow follows them even to the 
eaves and window-sills of houses, taking their eggs and young in spite of every pre¬ 
caution. 
The evidence on this point, contributed by our observers during the past few 
years, is replete with accounts of such forays, and the only wonder is that robins, 
thrushes, blackbirds, and many other species continue to rear any young at all. The 
reports on this subject number one hundred and fifty or more, and contain minute 
descriptions of the destruction by crows of the eggs or young of more than twenty- 
live species of wild birds. The list includes the robin, wood thrush and other 
thrushes, brown thrasher, wrens, English sparrows and other sparrows, blackbirds 
of several species, Baltimore and Bullock’s orioles, woodpeckers, swallows, king¬ 
birds, wax-wing, warblers, bluejay, Carolina dove, quail, prairie chicken, woodcock, 
night herons and other waders, wild ducks, and sea-gulls. In addition to these 
specific statements, very many observers state that all kinds of small birds suffer 
from crows, while others say that it kills “many kinds” or “all kinds which can 
be obtained.” 
Naturally the robin is one of the most frequent sufferers, and perhaps its losses 
are more likely to be noticed than those of less familiar birds. The following re¬ 
ports indicate something ol the nature and extent of the inroads upon this species : 
From Prof. F. E. L. Beal, Lunenburgh, Mass.: 
I have known the crow to rob the nest of a robin of its eggs on se\eral occasions, always at the 
first peep of light. In one instance the nest robbed was within six feet of the open window of a 
chamber where I slept. 
From Charles F. Goodhue, Webster, N. H.: 
The crow has been known to rob every robin’s nest in a good-sized apple orchard, and to come 
within eight rods of the house and carry off four young robins in the course of one day. 
From J. W. Van Kirk, Milton, Pa.: 
Last spring (1886) out of ten robin’s nests around our building, nine were robbed of eggs by the 
crow. One of the nests was not over twenty yards from the house. The robin lays from three to 
five eggs, and you can safely say that at least forty robins were thus destroyed inside of eight 
acres of ground. 
From Dr. A. K. Fisher, Sing Sing, N. Y.: 
A great number of nests of the robin, wood thrush, and, in fact, many other birds are robbed 
of their eggs, and I have often observed crows flying away with young birds in their bills, fol¬ 
lowed by the outraged parents. 
In examining the contents of crow’s stomachs in spring, I have detected the presence of birds’ 
eggs in a number of cases. 
