The AMERICAN CROW is too well-known to need a description—merely a reference to the steely-blue or dark purple sheen of his “crow-black” plumage, and to the remarkable power of his long (twelve-inch) wings, which in flight show feather finger-tips at their ends.

One cannot but admire his strength and his absolute fearlessness, nor fail to be amused at his cleverness and his insolent bravado. Two or three crows, cawing hoarsely, will people a woodland in winter; while a flock, winging its way to the naked March woods, will cause a thrill of joy and expectancy, in spite of the knowledge that the advent of these black marauders means eternal vigilance to long-suffering farmers.

Dr. Sylvester D. Judd at Marshall Hall, Maryland, made an exhaustive study of the crow’s food habits. He reported the following:

“The crow is by all means the worst pilferer of the cornfield. Every year at Marshall Hall, as elsewhere, a part of the field must be replanted because of his ‘pickings and stealings.’ In 1899, the replanting was more extensive than usual—46 per cent. of the 3½ bushels originally planted. This unusual ratio was probably caused by the failure of the cherry crop, which left the crow short of food.”

Dr. Judd told of the “protective devices of tarring corn,” which did not prevent the crows from pulling up the grain in large quantities, though they did not eat it. He continued:

“The injury to corn at other seasons than sprouting time is, as a general thing, comparatively insignificant, but in some years it has been important when the ears were in the milk. They then tear open the ears, and pick out the kernels in rapid succession. In the National ZoÖlogical Park at Washington during the summer of 1896, their depredations on an acre of corn were watched, and 50 per cent. of the crop was found to have been ruined.

“The only scarecrows that proved effective at Marshall Hall were dead crows, and strings stretched on poles around the field and hung with long white streamers. Although in fall the number of marauders is greatly increased by reËnforcements from the North, ripe corn sustains less injury from crows than roasting ears. One reason is the abundance of fall fruit.

“Wheat suffers comparatively little. When it is ripening, cherries and sprouting corn divert the crow’s attention. After it is cut and gathered into the shock, however, they often join the English sparrows in removing the kernels. Oats are injured even less than wheat, though crows have been noticed feeding on them at harvest time.”

While the crow is considered the arch-criminal of the bird-world, Dr. Judd ascribed to him a good habit—that of the dissemination of wild seeds in an unusual manner. He wrote: “In November, 1899, a large flock on the wing was noticed in the distance, at a point opposite Fort Washington, several miles above Marshall Hall. They came on down the river in a line that at times stretched almost from one bank to the other. They circled several times and alighted on the shore. The flock numbered at least a thousand, and hoarse caws and croaks gave evidence that it was made up to some extent of fish crows.

“After the birds had remained on shore about fifteen minutes, they were put to flight by a farmer’s boy and flew on down the river. Going to the place where they had alighted, I found the sandy beach cut up for more than a hundred yards with their tracks. Many led out to the water, and floating black feathers here and there showed where baths had been taken.

“The most interesting trace of their sojourn, however, was several hundred pellets of fruit material, which they had ejected through their mouths and dropped on the ground. These pellets were about an inch in length and half an inch in diameter. They were of a deep purplish color, due to the fruit of woodbine, wild grape, and pokeberry, of which they were mainly composed. In 50 pellets collected there were only 11 seeds of other plants—namely, holly, bitter-sweet, and poison ivy. Pokeberry seeds were by far the most numerous. Mr. A. J. Pieters, of the Botanical Division of the Department of Agriculture, germinated some of them, thus demonstrating the fact that they were distributed uninjured.

“The pellets were made up not only of seeds and skins, but largely of fruit pulp in an undigested state. It seems strange that the birds should have rid themselves of a substance that still contained a good deal of nutriment.

“Little is known of the distribution of fruit seeds by crows during migration, but it is certain that they do this work effectively while they fly to and from the roosts where they congregate in winter, for their feeding grounds often cover an area stretching out on all sides from the roosts for 50 miles or more. It appears highly probable that the crows which are found in winter at Marshall Hall roost at Woodbridge, D. C., some 15 miles distant. There, in the midst of several acres of woodland, a crow dormitory is established, in which probably 100,000 crows sleep every winter night. It was visited in February, 1901, and the ground was found to be strewn with disgorged pellets.”[9]

The FISH CROW (16 inches long) is three inches smaller than the common crow. It has a more uniform iridescence above, and is greenish underneath. Its caw is hoarser and more nasal. Its range is from Connecticut and the lower Hudson southward, generally near the coast. It is abundant in Virginia, and near the city of Washington.

The FLORIDA CROW is similar to the American Crow, except that its bill and feet are larger, its wings and tail shorter.

THE RAVEN

The NORTHERN RAVEN so resembles the crow that it is often difficult to distinguish them. The chief differences are the raven’s much greater size (from 22 to 26½ inches), and its note, which sounds more like Croak than Caw. This is the raven found in Alaska, northern Canada, and Greenland,—the bird especially revered by Alaskan Indians. It is found also in the northern United States,—in the state of Washington, in Minnesota, the Adirondacks, and elsewhere.

Major Charles Bendire, in his “Life Histories of North American Birds,” makes the following statements about the northern raven:

“It lives to a great extent on offal and refuse of any kind, and is generally most abundant in the immediate vicinity of Indian camps and settlements, which are mostly located on the seashore, or on the banks of the larger rivers in the interior where these birds act as scavengers. Hundreds of ravens may frequently be seen in the vicinity of the salmon-canning stations. Clams also form a part of their food; these are said to be carried some distance in the air and dropped on the rocks to break their shells. They also prey to no small extent on the young and eggs of different water-fowl.”

CARDINAL