The sun., 1919-06-29
SPORTSMEN URGED
TO SHOOT CROWS
"Winged Devils Of the Fields
and Woods" q Foe Of
Game Birds.
FARMERS CHIEF ENEMY
Useful Mission i'm Life Now
Superseded by Man Who
Seeds Waste Places.
FARMERS CHIEF ENEMY
~ G. o. LIE CoMPTE.

The record of the crow IL like its coat
about as black as black can be- It
may be that in the great plan Of nature.
some time in the past, the crow served a
useful purpose-likewiee the hawk and
buzzard.,.
Take the buzzard, for example. Once
protected by human laws everywhere be-
stencil Of which offended the nostrils of
all animal life, It is now outlawed. be-
cause man realizes that It is better to
burn or bury the dead-leaving no ex-
cuse for the existence Of the disease car
rying buzzard.
SO. in the beginning. the mission Of
the crow. We may conjecture. was to
preserve some equilibrium, some balance
In the economy OF nature. It may be he
| was placed here to hold in check the
weed seed and grain eating birds be-
cause weeds were factor In the past
In covering the waste places OF the earth
and making them fertile.
However that may have been. there
seems to be no excuse for his existence
now, since man. the agriculturist, seeds
the waste places to useful grains and
grasses, and needs the help of the in
sectivorous birds.
"Winged Devils OF Fields"
Probably no one has ever had a better
opportunity than I have had to observe
the crow and to study its life through
out every period of its existence. I was
reared on a farm in q country where
crows were plentiful, and on account Of
my health spent every hour OF my life
for years In the open.
When l was 9 years old my father
bought me a gun, and one OF his first
admonitions was. Never shoot farm
er's friend" Always the robin, the
meadow lark and the other insectivor-
, Gus birds were as safe near me as they
could have been anywhere. But. believe
me. the crow was never on our protected
, list, because We knew from observation
|, and experience that the crow did max
imum of harm and a minimum OF good
Years ago l wrote: You see the
crows hopping here and there over the
pastures and fitting along the hedge
rows and you may think they are only
locking for grain or insects. but did YOU
see behind them, as so often have seen
the trail of desolated bird homes. you
toe would cherish in your heart an undy-
ing hatred for these winged devils OF the
fields and woods"
About as omniverous az anything
could well be. they eat dead animals
and are dreaded agents in the sprea ding
4 Of diseases such as hog cholera. foot and
! mouth disease. CHAMBERS, &c Unsuitable
egg eaters, they scour the fields. hedg.
rows. thickets and orchards for nests ot
birds, and even for the eggs OF the barn.
yard fowls.
Foe of Game Birds.
They displayed, l well remember al.
, most human Intelligence in watching oui
turkey hens to their nests and then wait.
ing on some nearby fence or dead tree
tor for the eggs
They follow the wild ducks to the!i
nesting grounds in the far North to feas
on the eggs and young. Prairie chick
ems suffer severely from their depreda.
I tons, and the pheasant preserves are tht
frequent victims OF their maraudius
y habits.
In the olden days the corn planting
n Ca! mer said:
One for the blackbird,
Two for the crow,
One FOR the cutworm.
TWO for to grow.
4 So he would put nve grains OF cor,
t In every hill. Most commonly the GROW
o is hated by the farmer because il pull
Up the young corn to get the sof
Q seed kernels at the root, and everyw he r
;, the scarecrow is in the newly plante,
Z corn fields. Later on the dsmlge the,
6 do to the corn crop can hardly be estl
. mated. because they peck the end O
e the young ears. allowing the water I
I. enter the shuck and rot the corn.
National Crow shoot This Year,
d They are destructive to the melon,
x pecking holes In them and causing ther
II to rot on the vines. II Is no uncommo
70 sight to see small cotton cords en-
n circling and across the melon fields G
the South. done to keep away the crow
II because the crows fear trap wher