The Emmett index. [volume] (Emmett, Idaho) 1893-1925, 1894-12-01
SOME BIRD FRIENDS.
APPARENT SOCIAL STATUS OF CROWS
AND SPARROWS.

Sable Devourer OF Carbon Seem TO Thrive
In the Same LocsIities-They Follow Man
and Civilization.
The ubiquity OF the sparrow is truly 70
markable, and the wonder continually
grows IA TO the pioneer instincts OF this
checklist Of all birds | think the sparrow
even outdoes the Hndoostanee crow for his
contempt OF all mankind In India the
crow hangs about the house like some dis
reputable friend whom you would like to get
rid OF, but fear the consequences OF his dis
missal He hops jauntily from the babachi
khana (cookhouse) TO the veranda, whero
the chota hazrae, or little breakfast, is be
ing served, and nimbly steals a toasting
crust on the open brazier or makes sud
den swoop upon the table and successfully
seizes and carries of choice morsel.
He snatches from the hands Of children
their buttered bread and stalks away with
head on one side to some secure place, there
to devour his thievish gain Indeed the
Hindoostanee declare he is the very soul OF
their devil, and have therefore some respect
| for this sleek black bird. Stone a crow or
kill one, and no rest will come TO that I'M
fortunate house for days or weeks From
each tree top will come an ayenging cav,
| to multitudes Of caws the din is terrifying.
| There Is some sort Of comradeship be-
tween the sable bird and the quaker spar
row. Both are found in the most unfre-
quented places For many years the crow
and the sparrow were the only birds of the
desert, except some strange little fellow
who was wing weary and had halted for a
few brief moments on his way. 1t is also
astonishing when one comes to realize it,
the increase in bird population in the waste
places of the globe, and | am compelled to
| the belief that birds have to leave their
birthplaces and wander abroad just as we
have TO do. Some 30 years ago. when there
was no Riverside and that locality was but
a wild swept sheep range, there were no
| birds there, but with cultivation have come
hundreds of songsters, whose CHEEKY music
can be heard among the pretty grounds Of
those artistic homes
| Arizona, as far as can judge from my
hasty visits, is birdless, but the works that
are being inaugurated along the ella and
| Colorado rivers will soon bring in an i'm
migration. 1t is queer how these birds
know where food is to be found, and it is
queerer still how they disseminate their
knowledge. Here the birds are getting too
| plentiful, when not five years ago a bird
was indeed a rara avis, and what mischief
these little sparrows and linnets can dol
Not content with destroying hundreds of
| dollars worth OF early fruit in spring they
continue their destructive war till late in
winter. and when the heads OF the tender
alfalfa are just springing through the soil
| peck. peck 20 the birds, and each succulent
| sprig Is eaten.
They find plenty Of amusement, do these
little fellows. The seed of the sagebrush
is steadily falling. and myriads of them de
vote their attention to that, alte siating be
tween the desert and the barns 1t is pa
thetic when one comes to consider how
soon man can establish friendly relations
with these little monsters. All birds are
possessed of considerable confidence and
no sooner do they know you are harmless
than they take eutire possession OF you and
| your belongings. | had box of barley on
the porch which was Immediately confis
Gated. On my first venture on the stoop a
cloud Of dust and feathers rose from the
box. On my second visit a few Of the late
arrivals fled. On my third visit the birds
never left the grain, and subsequently they
| quarreled and fought and chartered as If /
were some inanimate log. or at least their
ward.
IL Is difficult, on the other hand, to con
ciliate crow. The average desert crow is
yet an uneducated bird and hovers not
about the house awaiting the dropping of
some tidbit. He prefers rather to hunt in
the vineyard or the orchard and is as furi-
GUS an enemy to the field mouse and the
kangaroo rat as is a cat What pests. too.
are these kangaroo rats, and the crow who
will attack, kill and eat these wretched 70
a Il a FL
kangaroo rat is rightly named. He is white,
with long tail, and hops about like his
namesake of Australia. He burrows i'm
mense holes. and truthful rancher once
told me he had poured IS inches of water
into one OF their burrows for IS hours and
yet the tunnel never showed signs of filling.
They must be at the bottom Of the earth, !"
he rehectively remarked, and concluding
said. THE mischief of it is he always Sc
lects the finest land" which shows they are
not wanting in good sense
The quail now is more Of nuisance than
ever and all through the operation of the
coyote law. The coyote is the desert farm
er's friend. He eats the rabbits who pnaw
the trees, and he breakfasts sumptuously ON
quail, which destroy the early fruit. Mr..
Gale Of lndio had his crop Of grapes almost
entirely destroyed by these voracious birds.
They settled in great clouds upon his vine
yard, and as the berries ripened they ate.
The whir OF their wings as they arose from
the vines reminded one Of some huge niece
OF machinery suddenly started
The quail on the desert Of which there
are three kinds-the desert, the mountain
and the valley-are by no means shy and
have so little been disturbed by hunters
that they fall an easy prey, but it is almost
impossible to bag them unless with dog.
They are the nimblest Of runners and are
never so unwise as to rise to shot, but will
scurry in the thick underbrush and hide
there so cunningly that one may almost
tread on them before they will move. Great
is their vitality, and they will carry of
more shot in their heads and live than would
an Ethiopian from Dahomey. However
severely they may be wounded. they make
a bitter fight against capture, and their first
instinct is to get to cover.-John H Gilmour
in San Francisco Chronicle
Prehistoric Picture.