If the corn is dipped in soft tar, and
afterwards in powdered lime to give it a white coating, the crow will
not touch it. He does not like the taste of tar, and he will look
elsewhere for his dinner.
Some farmers feed the crows by scattering loose grain over the surface
of the cornfield, and in many cases the birds have been satisfied with
what they received in this way.
Now let us see why it is for the farmer's interest to make friends with
the crow. In the early days of New England, crows were thought to be so
harmful that many of them were killed. The next year the grass and the
crops were greatly injured by worms which the crows would have
destroyed. It has often been proved that when a large number of crows
and blackbirds have been killed, there has been an increase of harmful
insects.
Crows eat the cutworm, the white grub, and the weevil. They like no food
so well as mice. In the spring they like to follow the plough and pick
up hundreds of insects that would do more harm than the most mischievous
crow.
A tame crow should never be kept in a cage. If the bird is well fed and
kindly treated, it will not fly far from its home, but it is a noisy and
sometimes a troublesome pet, and it is better to leave it in the woods.
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