The Common Croiv. 
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7 
cruelty. It is a curious compliment to the intelligence of the crow that 
mankind often involuntarily assign to him human feelings and attributes. 
The simple fact is that this act, which would be an unspeakable atrocity 
if committed by a human being, becomes, when committed by a crow, 
no more culpable than the bolting by him of a grasshopper. One act is 
no more cruel than the other. It is, therefore, only necessary to consider 
how often the act occurs, and what is the monetary loss. As a matter of 
fact, it is a relatively uncommon occurrence, and the loss trifling. In most 
cases the sheep would die anyhow ; the crows simply hasten the process. 
Erom inquiries I have made, I believe it would be hard to get evidence con¬ 
clusively establishing even one hundred such cases. Nevertheless, the story 
of one such case is so revolting that it stays in the memory and is repeated 
from person to person until its notoriety becomes widespread. 
The crow steals the eggs of poultry. He may occasionally be seen sitting 
quietly in some tree not far from the fowl-run, to all appearance merely 
having a quiet “ loafbut you may rely upon it he has more business on 
hand than appears on the surface. He is keeping an eye (two eyes, in fact) 
fixed on the movements of the fowls, and no sooner does a laying hen leave 
her nest than he silently swoops down after the egg, and slyly and quietly 
disappears with it impaled on his beak. The eggs of ducks, turkeys, and 
wild birds are stolen in the same manner. 
Young chickens, ducklings, and goslings are carried off by crows unless 
carefully tended by their mothers, as has been described by Hr. Godman. 
The crow pulls sprouting grain. Early some morning a flock settles on 
the unprotected field of maize, and pulk up and eats a large number of the 
sprouting grains, which of course necessitates expensive replanting. This is 
the crow’s greatest crime against the ordinary farmer, for though the crow 
steals corn in the milk, as well as ripe grain, these latter thefts are losses 
that are trifling, and are borne with equanimity. 
Einally, the crow destroys cultivated fruit. He is sometimes partial to such 
fruit as apples, figs, and especially grapes, and takes a few to slake his thirst 
on a hot day, or perhaps to make up for his failure to find something he 
likes better. I say finally, for I intend to overlook the grievance a large 
number of people find in his so-called insulting voice and demeanour. It 
seems to me that nothing short of a consciousness of deserving contumely 
can construe the caw of a crow into a personal affront, and that anyone 
who feels keenly insulted by a crow had better at once institute an inquiry 
into his own moral welfare. 
These, then, are the charges against the crow ;—that it destroys fruit, corn, 
eggs, and young of poultry and birds, and that it worries sheep and hastens 
the death among them of the unfortunate and weak. Now let us hear 
what the American tribunal of specialists has to say after ten years of care¬ 
ful and impartial investigation. Mr. C. Hart Merriam says, in his letter 
transmitting the report on the crow :— 
“ The present report is based on the examination of the contents of 
nearly a thousand stomachs. The quantity and quality of the evidence 
seem sufficient to justify a final conclusion respecting the economic status 
of the crow, although a larger number of stomachs from some parts of the 
country would have been acceptable. 
“ The most important charges brought against the Crow are: (1) That 
it pulls sprouting corn ; (2) that it injures corn in the milk; (3) that it 
destroys cultivated fruit; and (4) that it feeds on the eggs and young of 
poultry and wild birds. 
