March i6, 1912 
FOREST AND STREAM 
339 
birds, is almost impossible to believe. That a 
man like Mr. Burroughs, who is the son of a 
man who is considered to be a great nature 
lover, should come out and make such a state¬ 
ment is a shame. I was glad to see that Dr. 
Hornaday opposed him. 
In the stomachs of the robins, orioles, yellow¬ 
headed and red-winged blackbirds that I have 
examined, I have found that angleworms, in¬ 
sects, caterpillars and weed seed have been the 
principal food taken. In 1911, when the larvae of 
several species of noctuid moths (commonly 
known as cutworms) were such a pest here in 
Minnesota, I found that the principal food of 
the yellow-headed and red-winged blackbird 
were these larva. At Fort Snelling, where I 
made my observations, I found these two species 
of birds to make regular excursions from the 
marsh down by the river up to the lawns at the 
fort in order to feast on these larva. At the 
lowest I estimated the number of birds at this 
particular place to 200, and that each bird de¬ 
stroyed ten larva a day, this would make 60,000 
destroyed in one month. If the injury done by 
a single larva be put down at one cent a year, 
the services rendered man by these birds is 
very great, and yet, these are the very same kind 
of birds Mr. Burroughs would like to see ex¬ 
terminated. His statements are misleading, 
harmful and obnoxious. Let us all do our very 
best to save what remains of the one-time rich 
fauna of North America. J. W. Fr.\nzen. 
P.A.CKER, Conn., March 6 . — Editor Forest and 
Stream: I note your remarks on page 271 re¬ 
specting Burroughs and Hornaday and their 
differing views as to birds in relation to agri¬ 
culture. Can you not publish the views of these 
two in full as given to their hearers at the 
Astor? I believe your readers would find them 
interesting. E. P. Robinson. 
[We do not think so.—E ditor.] 
Diseased Jackrabbits. 
Charles City, Iowa. March i. — Editor Forest 
and Stream: In the Jan. 13 number of Forest 
AND Stream there appears an article on “Jack 
Rabbits,” by F. T. Webber. He describes a dis¬ 
ease afflicting the jack rabbits of Colorado east 
of the mountains; and also states the jacks of 
Utah were in the 8o’s similarly afflicted, and asks 
regarding the nature of the disease. 
In the Feb. 10 issue of Forest and Stream, 
C. Obenland, of Pomeroy, Wash., in a short 
article on “Rabbit Diseases,” refers to Mr. 
Webber’s article and says: “F. T. Webber 
speaks of rabbits being diseased. The rabbits 
are afflicted here the same way and the disease 
is called tuberculosis.” Mr. Obenland says the 
cottontail rabbit is not there afflicted with this 
disease. 
I have spent years in the West and Southwest, 
and as early as 1889 observed on the plains of 
Southwestern New Mexico that many of the 
jack rabbits were afflicted with the same disease 
as mentioned by Messrs. Webber and Obenland. 
The disease among the jacks there appeared to 
vary somewhat in intensity with the seasons. I 
am also aware that the jacks of various regions 
aside from New IMexico, Colorado, Utah and 
Washington, are, to a greater or less extent. 
similarly afflicted. However, I do not now recall 
a single instance where the cottontail of those 
regions are known to be afflicted with this dis¬ 
ease. But one or two examples of this disease 
afflicting the rabbit of Northern Iowa has yet 
come to my notice. 
It is a well known fact that deer, dogs, cats, 
rats, hogs, cattle, etc., are often afflicted with 
this disease in some of its varying forms; and it 
is now generally conceded to be tuberculosis. 
For very many years I have known of large 
numbers of jacks being shipped East “for food 
for poor people.” I consider any animal afflicted 
with tuberculosis to be unfit for food, and should 
not be used. 
A paper by the writer on tuberculosis among 
wild and domestic animals, is now in press by 
one of our leading scientific journals. 
Clement L. Webster. 
Do We Need Crows? 
West Haven, Conn., March 9.— Editor Forest 
and Stream: That black rascal, the crow, is 
under fire again—as usual. In a Government 
bulletin, published in 1895, emphasis was laid 
upon the value of the crow as a destroyer of 
noxious beetles, grubs, cutworms, rodents and 
the like. It has, however, been uphill work to 
persuade the hard-headed farmer that the crow 
was any good to him at all. He simply would 
not believe it. Apparently his scepticism has 
shaken the faith of some of the scientists, for 
now the Biological Survey is opening up again 
the whole question, and has sent out a circular 
asking for definite information on certain points. 
Now is the chance for the enemy of the crow 
to discredit him, if he can, and secure the re¬ 
versal of the somewhat favorable former 
verdict. 
Conceding that the crow does eat a consider¬ 
able amount of noxious insects and small ver¬ 
min, the question is whether it does not in other 
ways do more harm than good. The present 
discussion will hinge upon certain points sug¬ 
gested by questions propounded in the above 
circular for answer by the public. Among these 
the following are of special interest: 
First: “To what extent can the reduction in 
numbers of our game birds, such as grouse and 
quail, and many smaller insectivorous species, 
be attributed to the crow?” If a crow destroys 
even one brood of insectivorous birds, it does 
in that one act more harm than it could ever 
do of good. If it habitually eats the eggs of 
the partridge and quail, it might be proven an 
important agent in the lamented disappearance 
of our native game birds. Some think that 
only certain individual crows commit these 
depredations, or that it is done only when 
chance furnishes special opportunity, of which 
I have my own doubts. Information sent in 
from many sources may decide the tenor of the 
new bulletin. 
Second: “Do crows destroy much poultry 
and many eggs, and does the habit appear to 
be confined to a few' individuals, or is it a more 
or less characteristic trait of all the crows in 
your vicinity?” Crows certainly destroy con¬ 
siderable young poultry, and observations on 
this point will be of great value. 
Third: “Does it inflict serious damage upon 
the corn, either when sprouting or when in the 
shock, and does it appear to be as troublesome 
in your locality as it w'as fifteen years ago?” 
This is the old question, one of great import¬ 
ance, opened again for information up to date. 
Fourth: “Do farmers in your locality resort 
to the practice of tarring seed corn? If so, how 
successfully has it protected the corn?” If this 
simple operation is really widely effective in sav¬ 
ing seed corn from the attacks of crows, or 
of other birds or animals, the knowledge of this 
w'ill be of great value. 
Information is also asked about winter crow 
roosts in a locality—numbers of birds, acreage, 
and characteristic vegetation. 
Not many people, probably, are aware that 
there are two kinds of crows in Connecticut. 
Along the shore of Long Island Sound a south¬ 
ern species, called the fish crow, reaches its 
northern limit. It may be recognized by its 
slightly smaller size and by its peculiar caw, 
which is short and querulous, with a decided 
nasal twang. It would be interesting to know 
how numerous this little crow is in any locali¬ 
ties of the State, and the Government also 
wants information about it along the line of 
the questions given above. 
The State ornithologist will greatly appreci¬ 
ate any items of information about the crows 
of Connecticut on one or more of these points, 
and any other observations about our much 
shot at but persistent black fellow citizen. 
These will be made good use of for local edifi¬ 
cation, and will also be sent to Washington for 
the Government bulletin. So will those who 
have any definite information whatever kindly 
inform the State ornithologist whether or not 
our crows in this State are improving in their 
morals. Herbert K. Job, 
State (Ornithologist. 
The Broad-Winged Hawk. 
In Numbers 3 and 4 of Volume XXIII. of the 
Wilson Bulletin, a quarterly of ornithology, 
published at Oberlin, Ohio, Frank L. Burns has 
a full article on the broad-winged hawk, perhaps 
one of the least known of our generally distri¬ 
buted hawks. 
Mr. Burns has devoted more than twenty years 
to a study of this hawk and his article covers 
17s pages. Besides his own observations, he has 
collected a remarkable amount of information 
from others, and publishes more than a page of 
notes acknowledging these correspondents' kind¬ 
ness. 
He describes the broadwing hawk in its vari¬ 
ous forms, gives a list of its synonomy, an ac¬ 
count of its geographic distribution—twenty-six 
pages—its flight, its food, enemies, relation to 
other birds, its relation to man, disposition in 
captivity, migration, mating, nesting habits, the 
young and a bibliography, of which last there 
are about thirty-eight pages. 
Mr. Burns has studied the nestlings and kept 
them for a considerable time in captivity, so that 
he gives us much information about the molt, 
which is novel. 
All the game lazvs of the United States and 
Canada, revised to date and now in foree, are 
given in the Game Laws in Brief. See adv. 
