74 
Camera Craft. 
r The Emu 
L 1st July 
nients are still being tried to combat the blowfly pest, but at 
present it has not been successful, but the fox and the crow 
play a very important part in eradicating much of the trouble. 
During portions of the year the fox does good in combating the 
rabbits and fly pest, but in the lambing season plays such havoc 
that at this period pastoralists wage war on the fox. 
It will be readily seen that the once persecuted Crow is now 
considered useful, whereas not five years ago, this bird was 
destroyed in that particular part of South Australia. This tends 
to show that even without protection by law, the Crow has secured 
protection for the good that it does. There is no need to 
protect him in that district at least. I realise, even as big 
a supporter of the Crow as I am, that protection by legislation 
will not improve matters, but may do considerable harm, as 
there are yet hundreds of men who destroy the Crow, and would 
possibly even go to greater trouble if they were “prevented by 
law.” I believe that in S.A. at least I was one of the first land- 
owners to realise the value of the Crow, and when I mentioned 
the good it did, I was not well received. Now things have 
changed. Capt. White has done good work in persuading towns¬ 
people that the Crow is a useful bird. As for the country in 
South Australia, I do not think it will be long before the Crow 
will be the “most protected bird.” 
It was extremely pleasing to me to see mention of the Crow 
in this report on a piece of the country in which I have never 
been. The increase in Crows in S.A. has astonished me. I 
heard the other day that “Crows are in flocks around Peter¬ 
borough and Terowie, and that no one is trying to shoot 
them.” So the “Black Devil” is coming into his own at last. — 
J. Neil McGilp, R.A.O.U., King’s Park, South Australia. 
Camera Craft 
Notes from Merrrwa.- Appended hereto arc a few notes on 
various species of our birds that may be of interest to readers 
of The Emu : — 
Uroaetus audax. Wedge-tailed Eagle. — On September 30th, 
1923, I found a nest containing two young birds, on the edge 
of which was a dead rabbit with a spring-trap still attached 
to its leg. The trap weighed 23 ounces, and must have been 
a clumsy obstacle for the Eagle to manage. These birds are 
common in the district, and there is no doubt that, where pos¬ 
sible, they prefer rabbits as food to lambs. It is a sheep¬ 
raising country, and yet in nearly 10 years’ experience, which 
includes well over 200 nests observed, we have only two or 
three times found lambs on the nest, while I have seen the re¬ 
mains of as many as 14 rabbits on one nest alone. 
