1873.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
293 
A Living Crow-trap. 
If a jury of twelve farmers were to deckle 
whether the crow was an injurious bird or not, 
they would probably stand eleven for conviction 
and one for acquittal. There are many charges 
brought against the 
crow, and some of them 
are, unfortunatelj-, 
founded in fact. That 
it eats some grubs, mice, 
and other vermin we 
admit, and we do not 
think its pulling up a 
few kernels of corn an 
unpardonable offense. 
Our principal charge 
against the bird, and it 
is a most serious one, is 
its fondness for eggs. 
Not only will it rob 
outlying hens and tur¬ 
keys’ nests, but, what is 
of more consequence, it 
robs and breaks up the 
nests of insect-eating 
birds. When crows are 
numerous small birds 
are scarce and insects 
plenty. We have never 
seen any claims in 
favor of the crow that 
would offset this im¬ 
portant fault. Most farmers look upon the crow 
as a bird to be killed, but when they come to 
put their designs into execution they find they 
have to contend with an acute strategist. That 
crows “smell powder” has long been a popular 
impression. However this may be, let any one 
undertake to get within shot of a crow with a 
gun, and he will soon become a convert to the 
general belief. Traps have to be set very care¬ 
fully to be effective, and unless the farmer re¬ 
sorts to poisoning, the number of crows he will 
dispose of in a season will not be large. This 
wariness of the bird 
allows the various 
kinds of scarecrows 
to be effective, and 
we may often see 
cast-off clothing 
made into a resem¬ 
blance of a man so 
rude that the crow 
soon finds out the 
cheat. Strings 
stretched across the 
field are more effec¬ 
tive than effigies, as 
they give a hint of 
some conealed dan¬ 
ger, and the birds 
find it safest to 
avoid the locality'. 
Crows are on 
bad terms with 
most other birds, 
large and small, and 
they and the hawks 
have a long stand¬ 
ing quarrel which 
is renewed when¬ 
ever occasion offers. A frieud of ours, 
taking advantage of this enmity between the 
two, and acting upon the principle of setting a 
thief to catch a thief, bethought him to make 
use of a hawk he had captured as a crow-trap. 
The hawk, a large and powerful one, was care¬ 
fully fastened by its wings, and by means of 
some strong pegs back down to the ground. 
The crows, seeing their old enemy in an ap¬ 
parently helpless condition, gathered from all 
quarters, and became very bold in their demon¬ 
strations of exultation. The hawk, though 
confined, was not disabled, and had free use of 
its claws. Whenever a crow came within reach, 
it was seized by the hawk and soon disposed of 
by its powerful talons. The noise of the con¬ 
test drew more crows, and our friend describes 
the contest as a most amusing one, and result¬ 
ing disastrously for the crows. This was a trap 
which even their proverbial shyness did not 
teach them to refuse. The inventor of this 
trap—which is not patented—being an artist, 
has given us the above sketch of the scene. 
Preservation of Eggs.— Eggs are preserved 
in France by smearing them all over with a 
solution of beeswax in double the quantity of 
olive oil with the finger. The shell is rendered 
air-tight, and when packed in bran or chaff and 
kept dry the eggs may be preserved for months. 
Rubbing the eggs with linseed oil has been 
successful in preserving them for six months. 
The Spanish Mackerel. 
In the markets of our seaboard cities the 
Spanish Mackerel brings the highest price of 
any of our salt-water fishes. It is as costly as 
its relative the common mackerel is cheap. It 
is often the case that 
while the last-named is 
selling for 20 or 25 cents 
each, its brother with 
the Spanish prefix is 
sold for $1 a pound. 
They both belong to the 
same family—indeed, to 
the same genus, and 
have many characters in 
common. The common 
mackerel is found in all 
European seas, as well 
as our own, while, so far 
as we are informed, the 
other is peculiar to our 
coast. The common 
mackerel is an exceed¬ 
ingly beautiful fish, and 
is readily distinguished 
by the steel-blue color 
of the upper, part of its 
body, upon which are 
36 stripes of darker blue. 
The Spanish Mackerel 
is colored quite differ¬ 
ently, being of a light 
green color above, with numerous wavy 
lines of darker green; upon the sides are 
several rows of grayish brown spots; the 
belly of the fish is of a lighter color than 
the upper part, and when fresh shows me¬ 
tallic reflections. While similar in general 
appearance to the common species, these mark¬ 
ings at once distinguish it. Besides, it is a much 
larger fish, as they generally weigh two to four 
pounds, and sometimes as heavy as eight pounds. 
The largest one on record was caught at Sandy 
Hook in 1862; this weighed twenty pounds, 
and was over four 
feet long. The 
Spanish Mackerel 
is in Season from 
June to September, 
and is justly es¬ 
teemed as the finest 
flavored of all salt¬ 
water fish. This 
species was named 
by Dr., Storer in 
honor of Dr. De 
Kay, the author of 
the Report on Fish¬ 
es in the Natural 
History of the State 
of New York, and 
bears the scientific 
name of Scomber 
Dekayi. This valua¬ 
ble fish Is caught by 
fishermen along 
shore in their 
“pounds,’' These 
are nets so placed 
that fish go in at a 
wide entrance, and 
become so confused by the various turns that 
they rarely find their way out. Tiie “ pounds" 
are taken up with every tide, and the fisherman 
considers himself lucky if he finds a goodly 
number of Spanish Mackerel in his haul. The 
principal sale of this fish is to the fashionable 
hotels and restaurants where high prices rule. 
A LIVING CIIOW-TRAP. 
