The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1875-02-20

SCFFERINGs OF THE BIRDS FROM THE Cold
The severity of the recent extremely cold
weather in its effect on the birds of the air and
waterfowl has been mentioned. Many thous-
ands of crows were frozen and starved. 1t was
mentioned that hundreds of them had been
found blind, unable to navigate from loss of
sight, and helpless from cold and want of food.
1t is learned that this blindness is caused by
the starved birds picking each others eyes out
ct night on their roosts, where in their reduced
state from hunger they fight with desperation,
and practice in extremity sort of fierce can
nibalsm on each other Many wild ducks
have been captured, stupefed and starving
A gentleman living few miles from Baltimore
reports that the robins in great numbers, hav-
ing exhausted the food available in the up
country or cut off from supplies by the ice and
snow, are driven to the borders of the city to
satisfy their hunger In some cases they have
stripped the holly trees of all the berries and
gobbled up all the food they could find. In
one instance there was a robin on a holly tree
for every berry it bore. The humane master
of the house, fed them, and the consequence
was that not only the robins, but the English
sparrows and other poor little birds found
hospitable resting place and secure harbor,
compromising the family by their songs of
thanks and presence. The informant has been
particular to beg the reporter to ask thai every
body will feed the birds in their distress and
encourage them to live. He is not particular
about the cannibal crows These gentlemen of
the cornfeld, however, seem to have been the
greatest sufferers of all the birds. They have
been reduced TO such extremity that hundreds
of them have been seen on Charles street road
very near the city, picking whatever they
could from the droppings of the road, and lit
tie boys have caught many of them, helpless,
sightless, and starving in the snow.-Sun.
A correspondent of the same paper, in refer
ring to this subject. says:
at would appear that the humane gentleman
who has be so thoughtful to supply the rob-
ms, sparrows, &C., with food, is not particular
about the "cannibal crows" Here he makes a
mistake. like great many other popular be-
liefs. That which gives the crow the character
of being merely a thief and marauder, and
nothing else, is great error. 1t is true, that
the crow, with other birds, will sometimes pluck
few hills of the growing corn in its early
stage, for the purpose Of getting the grain of
corn which is not yet exhausted ofits subst ance,
clinging to the root, yet he has amply repaid
the farmer by the destruction of thousands of
grubs and worms while the land in which the
corn was being planted was being plewed as
well as afterwards. There are many farmers
who no doubt have seen the crows following
after the plowman, you may say at his very
heels, picking up the large white grub WORMS
as they were turned up by the pillow, and which
is one of the most destructive enemies to our
pasture grounds, feeding, it does, on the roots
of the grasses alone.
"By very little extra trouble the farmer can
prevent the plucking up of the young corn by
the crows or any other birds, and that is BY the
simple application of a very small quantity of
gas house tar to his seed corn. After pulling
up few plants the field will be abandoned in
disgust.
"The writer is feeding the crows as well as the
snow birds, &C., and for years his orders have
been peremptory that no crow shall be killed
for snl j
in some of our counties for crows heads is in
deed relic of barbarism and of stupidity"