JOHN.

No. X.

Among the enemies with which the farmers of a poor or light soil have to

contend, I know of none so truly formidable and injurious as the crows,

whose numbers, cunning, and audacity can scarcely be appreciated, except

by those who have had long-continued and numerous opportunities of

observation. Possessed of the most acute senses, and endowed by nature

with a considerable share of reasoning power, these birds bid defiance

to almost all the contrivances resorted to for their destruction; and

when their numbers have accumulated to vast multitudes, which annually

occurs, it is scarcely possible to estimate the destruction they are

capable of effecting. Placed in a situation where every object was

subjected to close observation, as a source of amusement, it is not

surprising that my attention should be drawn to so conspicuous an object

as the crow; and having once commenced remarking the peculiarities of

this bird, I continued to bestow attention upon it during many years, in

whatever situation it was met with. The thickly-wooded and well-watered

parts of the State of Maryland, as affording them a great abundance of

food, and almost entire security during their breeding season, are

especially infested by these troublesome creatures, so that at some

times of the year they are collected in numbers which would appear

incredible to any one unaccustomed to witness their accumulations.

Individually, the common crow (_corvus corona_) may be compared in

character with the brown or Norway rat, being, like that quadruped,

addicted to all sorts of mischief, destroying the lives of any small

creatures that may fall in its way, plundering with audacity wherever

anything is exposed to its rapaciousness, and triumphing by its cunning

over the usual artifices employed for the destruction of ordinary

noxious animals. Where food is at any time scarce, or the opportunity

for such marauding inviting, there is scarcely a young animal about the

farm-yards safe from the attacks of the crow. Young chickens, ducks,

goslings, and even little pigs, when quite young and feeble, are carried

off by them. They are not less eager to discover the nests of domestic

fowls; and will sit very quietly in sight, at a convenient distance,

until the hen leaves the nest, and then fly down and suck her eggs at

leisure. But none of their tricks excited in me a greater interest, than

the observation of their attempts to rob a hen of her chicks. The crow,

alighting at a little distance from the hen, would advance in an

apparently careless way towards the brood, when the vigilant parent

would bristle up her feathers, and rush at the black rogue to drive him

off. After several such approaches, the hen would become very angry, and

would chase the crow to a greater distance from the brood. This is the

very object the robber has in view, for, as long as the parent keeps

near her young, the crow has very slight chance of success; but as soon

as he can induce her to follow him to a little distance from the brood,

he takes advantage of his wings, and, before she can regain her place,

has flown over her, and seized one of her chickens. When the cock is

present, there is still less danger from such an attack, for chanticleer

shows all his vigilance and gallantry in protecting his tender

offspring, though it frequently happens that the number of hens with

broods renders it impossible for him to extend his care to all. When the

crow tries to carry off a gosling from the mother, it requires more

daring and skill, and is far less frequently successful than in the

former instance. If the gander be in company, which he almost uniformly

is, the crow has his labour in vain. Notwithstanding the advantages of

flight and superior cunning, the honest vigilance and determined bravery

of the former are too much for him. His attempts to approach, however

cautiously conducted, are promptly met, and all his tricks rendered

unavailing, by the fierce movements of the gander, whose powerful blows

the crow seems to be well aware might effectually disable him. The first

time I witnessed such a scene, I was at the side of the creek, and saw

on the opposite shore a goose with her goslings, beset by a crow: from

the apparent alarm of the mother and brood, it seemed to me they must be

in great danger, and I called to the owner of the place, who happened to

be in sight, to inform him of their situation. Instead of going to their

relief, he shouted back to me, to ask if the gander was not there too;

and as soon as he was answered in the affirmative, he bid me be under no

uneasiness, as the crow would find his match. Nothing could exceed the

cool impudence and pertinacity of the crow, who, perfectly regardless of

my shouting, continued to worry the poor gander for an hour, by his

efforts to obtain a nice gosling for his next meal. At length, convinced

of the fruitlessness of his efforts, he flew off to seek some more

easily procurable food. Several crows sometimes unite to plunder the

goose of her young, and are then generally successful, because they are

able to distract the attention of the parents, and lure them farther

from their young.

In the summer the crows disperse in pairs, for the purpose of raising

their young, and then they select lofty trees in the remotest parts of

the forest, upon which, with dry sticks and twigs, they build a large

strong nest, and line it with softer materials. They lay four or five

eggs, and, when they are hatched, feed, attend, and watch over their

young with the most zealous devotion. Should any one by chance pass near

the nest while the eggs are still unhatched, or the brood are very

young, the parents keep close, and neither by the slightest movement nor

noise betray their presence. But if the young are fledged, and beginning

to take their first lessons in flying, the approach of a man, especially

if armed with a gun, calls forth all their cunning and solicitude. The

young are immediately placed in the securest place at hand, where the

foliage is thickest, and remain perfectly motionless and quiet. Not so

the alarmed parents, both of which fly nearer and nearer to the hunter,

uttering the most discordant screams, with an occasional peculiar note,

which seems intended to direct or warn their young. So close do they

approach, and so clamorous are they as the hunter endeavours to get a

good view of them on the tree, that he is almost uniformly persuaded the

young crows are also concealed there; but he does not perceive, as he is

cautiously trying to get within gun-shot, that they are moving from tree

to tree, and at each remove are farther and farther from the place where

the young are hid. After continuing this trick until it is impossible

that the hunter can retain any idea of the situation of the young ones,

the parents cease their distressing outcries, fly quietly to the most

convenient lofty tree, and calmly watch the movements of their

disturber. Now and then they utter a loud quick cry, which seems

intended to bid their offspring lie close and keep quiet, and it is very

generally the case that they escape all danger by their obedience. An

experienced crow-killer watches eagerly for the tree where the crows

first start from; and if this can be observed, he pays no attention to

their clamours, nor pretence of throwing themselves in his way, as he is

satisfied they are too vigilant to let him get a shot at them; and if he

can see the young, he is tolerably sure of them all, because of their

inability to fly or change place readily.

The time of the year in which the farmers suffer most from them, is in

the spring, before their enormous congregations disperse, and when they

are rendered voracious by the scantiness of their winter fare. Woe

betide the corn-field which is not closely watched, when the young grain

begins to shoot above the soil! If not well guarded, a host of these

marauders will settle upon it at the first light of the dawn, and before

the sun has risen far above the horizon, will have plundered every shoot

of the germinating seed, by first drawing it skilfully from the moist

earth by the young stalk, and then swallowing the grain. The negligent

or careless planter, who does not visit his fields before breakfast,

finds, on his arrival, that he must either replant his corn, or

relinquish hopes of a crop; and, without the exertion of due vigilance,

he may be obliged to repeat this process twice or thrice the same

season. Where the crows go to rob a field in this way, they place one or

more sentinels, according to circumstances, in convenient places; and

these are exceedingly vigilant, uttering a single warning call, which

puts the whole to flight the instant there is the least appearance of

danger or interruption. Having fixed their sentinels, they begin

regularly at one part of the field, and pursuing the rows along, pulling

up each shoot in succession, and biting off the corn at the root. The

green shoots thus left along the rows, as if they had been arranged with

care, offer a melancholy memorial of the work which has been effected by

these cunning and destructive plunderers.

Numerous experiments have been made, where the crows are thus

injurious, to avert their ravages; and the method I shall now relate I

have seen tried with the most gratifying success. In a large tub a

portion of tar and grease were mixed, so as to render the tar

sufficiently thin and soft, and to this was added a portion of slacked

lime in powder, and the whole stirred until thoroughly incorporated. The

seed-corn was then thrown in, and stirred with the mixture until each

grain received a uniform coating. The corn was then dropped in the

hills, and covered as usual. This treatment was found to retard the

germination about three days, as the mixture greatly excludes moisture

from the grain. But the crows did no injury to the field: they pulled up

a small quantity in different parts of the planting, to satisfy

themselves it was all alike; upon becoming convinced of which, they

quietly left it for some less carefully managed grounds, where pains had

not been taken to make all the corn so nauseous and bitter.