The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-07-15
QUEER TRAITS or The CROW.
EASILY SHOT WHEN ONCE THEIR
LEADER IS KILLED, ''"~
Stupid I'm Some ways, Keen In Others, says
. Farmer who Has Watched Them for
Years Pet Crow That Didn't Fat Germ,
brit Wal Fond OF "A Great Thief.

but Was Fond OF Meat "a Great Thief.
No bird Va better known. to the farmer than
ehe common American crow. No bird is
20 detosted but on tho other hand none IL
more frequently tanned.
An old farmer out near Chatham, N. j.,
who has hunted crows for moro than forty
years, describes them as remarkable mix
lures Of intelligence and stupidity y.
Each flock Of crows has it's hing or leader
whom tho rest obey implicitly ard without
whom they become utterly demoraliztd
and seem unable to act for Themselves"
be says. "If you want to dest roy a whole
dock Of crows the first thing to aim at Is
to kill the king. AZ d., q
Il remember when I was q small boy an
uncle OF mine planted a large field of corn,
which q fock Of crows instantly selected
asa feeding ground. Fer a long time they
oct at defiance all efforts to dispense them
; The king crow sat upon a tall tree, from
which he surveyed the country for a great
distance. AS soon as my uncle or his men
came In sight he would sound the signal
OF alarm, and he and all his followers would
take flight; but no sooner we're the men
too far away to shoot than the king would
make the fact known, and the entire flock
would return. After wasting a. quantity
OF ammunition and the greater part Of q
morning without shooting even one OF the
r~ascals, my uncle hunted me up.
Steve he said, you're pretty good
with a gun. Now III tell you what--rl
give you e. dollar for every crow you kill
out in that field Of mine
Il suppose he thought that, on the chance
~ on piDn "a f,llor 7 uo,,II ,panl fhn mast
day or two chasing crows of his corn.
Well. I didn't say anything. I took my
gun and started of that afternoon. There
were tho crows at work in the field and the
king on the tall tree.
II caught sight OF me as I came over
The top Of the hill, and gave the signal.
went on down the road, hid In some bushes
Just across from the field, and waited for
more than an hour; hut the crows seemed
to have gone for the day. I decided to
give 1t up till the next morning, and started
back up the road. Just as ] disappeared
over tho top Of the hill 7 hcar I'd q loud cav
and, turning, boheld those crows coming
IN q swarm to settle on the field. Several
times I tried to steal up the road on them.
but it was no use. Then I resorted to
strategy.
Il went up the hill and quite a piece down
the other side. Then. when 1 heard the
king crow give the signal to return, l slipped
behind the bushes by the roadside and suo-
oeeded in creeping all the way back without
his catching sight Of me. I picked him of
easily. and as they did not hear him give
the signal Of alarm the other Flows went on
fesding until I had shot several OF them.
Then I took the body OF the king crow,
tied it to that of a large hawk which / had
shot on my way there, and tossed them
into the middle Of the field. The crow is
the most curious bird on earth. The whole
flock came swooping down to solve the
mystery OF a crow and hawk lying there
together. I shot and shot into their midst,
but they never seemed to learn.
@When all my shot was exhausted / went
over to my uncle's and asked him to 20
zee how much he owed me. He vent quickly
enough, and counted ninety-seven crows.
after a while he came back 10 the house
with an awful sober face.
@'Stcve,' he said, I guess III have to.
ask you to let me of a part OF that bargain
we made. 1 didn't calculate exactly how
good with a gun you are.
had a lot Of sport Ills afternoon and Il
you'll give me back the dollar I spent on
the shot to kill those crows l guess it will
be all right as-. -, ,,..,
'I've never seen a dollar como out ola
mans pocket as quick as that one did.
AOfter since I've used the body of a dead
hawk to bring a crowd Of crows within
shooting distance, and w never. known
Il, to fail. Somehow it Is an object which
seems to have a peculiar fascination for
them, driving them clear out Of their senses
with curiosity.
"Some farmers exterminate whole fiocks
Of crows at once by sticking a stuffed owl
up in e tree near where they congregate.
All GROWS, you know. love to tease an owl,
II crows are successfully 'deooyed by a
stuffed owl practically the whole flock
may be wiped out before they will abandon
their fun. They will return again aud
again to tease the bird, in spite of the fact
that come Of their number are shot each
Samuel W. Quick, a farmer Of IRynexs
Corners, N. Y, has learned to have q friendly
feeling for all crows, because of a devoted
pet In one Of the tribe. 4
as some farmers imagine" he told the
writer. "The old birds feed their young
on worms, bugs and insects. 1t Ia suoh food
they are after when they go into the freshly
titled fields, In hunting for these they
naturally o MA damage nag x shs 9or not to touch e certain era
Of any kind. Think he would have starved
before eating corn. 80 : y... 81
81 shed tears when ] lost that bird I
called him Jacley. l got him by climbing
to the top Of a tai pine tree and carrying
him down In my arms. / put him in a box
about two feet square, with a steve across.
the front. After keeping him there about
one week l let him out FOR o walk. Very
soon he was so tame that I gave him en-
tire freedom. He slept in the trees in
ummer and IN the chicken house with the
hens In winter.
when hungry he would come into the
house, get hold of my wife's skirt and pull
and yell and flap his wings till she fed him.
We gave him everything we had on our
own table, excepting the grains. He was
o great lover of meat Of any kind When
he got a piece he would grab 1t as savagely
as O dog, fly up In a small tree In the yard.
hold the meat In one Of his claws and tear
of pieces with his bill, all the time making
Noise enough to waken the dead. He
Vas also very fond Of g~rasshoppers, and
would spend hours SONS days gathering
them and storing them up for hard times.
when he got more food than he could
eat at one time he would take the surplus
out In the yard and hide 1t under some
leaves; and woe to the dog or cat that would
try to get what he had deposited.
He would never hide anything while
amy one was watching him. II you would
turn your back, or pretend not to look
for q moment he would drop whatever he
had, quickly put a covering over II, and
then run of about twenty feet where you
could zee him and commence to dig and
scrateh, to mako you believe that he was
htlinO IL thoxas o F. H..- rfrf.rt vi