Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1916-12-26
CONCERNING THE CROW
- BY FREDERIC ,. HAsKIH

WY AsHINGTON. Dec. 2o-In many ways the most
wv remarkable bird in the United States is the
common crow. The United States biological
survey studying the with great care Tor
years. and has just arrived at the conclusion
that he does about much good as HARM and hence
should not be exterminated; and, furthermore that
even humanity to exterminate him, the task
would probably an mpossiblity. The crow can take
care of himself needs legal protection He has
been more less perscutd sine the white man
landed in North America and he is just about as
numerous He still roosts in enormous nocks
very outskirts Of great eastern cities some
Of these roosts contain many as 100000 BIRDS
a cold winter night.
The government investigation Of the has
turned out be the whole defense Of the crow
This sagacous bird had plenty of accusers;
he has charged with every crime which a feath-
cred citizen capable committing While the work
of the scientists has substantiated most OF these
derogaory opinions of morals 1t has also brought
to light number of facts the other side OF the
Sheet number Of activities In which the crow
valuable service to humanity albeit unntention-
ally Hence not urged to out and massacre
the And this is WELL because the crow is
the ceverest and most resourceful of birds. which
makes a massacre directed against MIN ol1cult
matter.
The men Of the biological survey examined the
stomachs of more than 2100 crows shot at all
year all parts of the country. BY examining
the contents birds stomach with the microscope,
the expert tell exactly what he eats. and thus
examining the matter elected from the stomachs of
barn owls the proved this particular owl
to be a useful member of the community In the case
of the several hundred of the birds had to give
up their lives in order to improve the reputation OF
their tribe with humanity.
This research the digestive apparatus of the
croW brought in striking fashion of the prn-
cipal reasons why he survives in spite Of all discour
agement. The crow is omniverous in the broadcast
sense of the word In pinch he will eat anything.
oP fora HAT
spiders, weevils grasshoppers. moths. butterflies,
caterpillars, ants flies, crabs shrimps
snals fish, toads, frogs. young chickens wild birds
and their carrion and all sorts Of plants and
grains both wild and cultivated Corn constitutes
proportion of the grain eaten and this is one of
the principal grievances Of the farmer against the
crow. with such a catholic taste in food is
obviously we'll prepared to meet hard times and the
high of living. The will kill and eat small
snakes will eat small mammals, to the size of
a cottontail rabbit He has been known to eat rubber
bands. probably under misapprehension to their
nutrtive value. About the only way to cut off
crows food supply is to shut him in concrete box
The Of the farmer against the Is based
largely the birds depredations in the cornfeld.
There is denying that crows do much damage to
corn but they do considerable service the
which is rarely appreciated and for which they
never get any thanks One of the principal foods Of
the crow in his nesting In the common May
beetle which is the parent of the white grub
destructive to all kinds of grain. In the
crow probably much corn by his raids the
Nav beetle tribe and the Q eats in the
season. He also works industriously reducing the
number Of grasshoppers. thereby rendering real
service to agriculture.
Another characteristic Of the which has coz
tributed his unpopuarty in farming circles is his
piratical practice eating young chickens
ton has shown however that this is a vice of
vidual rather than of the crow a Con-
tact with civilization has perverted Of the weaker
crow and turned them into chicken thieves the
vice. acquired seems to stick BY observing
fully flight OF the guilty birds and tracing them
the nest the farmer often shoot individuals
concerned drive them away thereby putting end
to poultry losses without tackng the large and
oftentimes innpractcable Job chasing
out of his neighborhood
rb. crows principal services to humanity are
,rcIuded in the work he does in destroying and
insects Injurious and to limited extent In
his activities scavenger. In winter good part
of the crows consists Of carbon At all seasons
of the year that he is big bird with large
appetite and that during the nesting season he has
four to six voracious infants to feed, combine to
multiply amount Of work he does. both for harm
and for good. is bird which works on large
scale and is much more important economic fac
tor for this than dozen species with similar
habits but smaller bodies
Other serious charges brought against the crow
accuse him spreading hog cholera and Of planting
broadcast OF poisonous shrubs and creeps by
eating their seeds. Science deny that he may
spread hog cholera it points that the disease
spreads through large number Of other avenues and
the complete determination OI the CRU" CIOe
would not do much check It, 1t is also true hahe
crow eats such apparently unappetizing articles as
noison poison ivy and scaters the seeds
wide areas the charge be brought against
no less than sxyve other species Of BIRDS including
some of our respectable and highly regarded
feathered families Those who bring such charges
against the crow in particular apparently moved
nv an anmus of prejudice.
OF all the things that make the interesting
bird his remarkable roosting habits stand foremost
crow roost the strangest spectaces that wild
life in this country considering how
70 cities the often roost, it is strange
neople are not familiar with the practice.
In the nesting the is fairly gregarious