HAiXKsl CROW BABIES 381 



nest of vounL!,' crows. The four little fellows were taken to the 

 woodshed and fed on corn meal until the\' be<^^an to fl>'. Then 

 each had one win^^ cHpped and they were j^nven their li])ert\'. 

 Durino- the da\' the>' wandered al)()Ut the jj^rounds, were fed with 

 the chickens and petted by the family. At ni^^ht the_\' were 

 "shooed" to a distised hen-house and shut in. 



M>' friend, Miss C. and I soon made friends with the crow 

 babies. As soon as they were released from the hen-house, they 

 would proceed at a flying-walk to the house where we fed them 

 corn and played with them. 



The}^ loved the sweet biscuits we had with our tea and four 

 o'clock would find them approaching the piazza with many 

 anticipatory ''croaks." If we delayed, they became quite indig- 

 nant and croaked furiously. Once a crow walked right in at the 

 open door, down the hall, and voiced his displeasure on the thresh- 

 old of my room. 



Another delight of their's was to have their throats scratched 

 or tickled. When we sat under the trees reading or sewing the}^ 

 would gather round us, stretching their necks invitingly and utter- 

 ing the funniest coaxing "craw^-aw-awks." And when we res- 

 ponded how they would push and shoulder one another to get a 

 turn I 



One morning the crows all disappeared. We called and called 

 in vain. Not one black feather did we see and not a croak did 

 we hear. We had given them their breakfast as usual and had 

 remarked that their wings needed reclipping. Could they have 

 flown away? We gave up at last and went to the orchard. 



Hardly had we seated ourseh^es when "croak!" came from over 

 our heads. We sprang to our feet. "Croak!" from another tree. 

 "Croak, croak!" Then came a gloriovis game of hide and seek 

 and Miss C. and I w^ere "it" all the time. The crows kept out 

 of sight in the foliage, but flew from tree to tree as we approached 

 their hiding places, calling "croak" from each new roost. If 

 they were not playing hide and seek, they surely gave a good 

 imitation of it. We were just giving them up when down they all 

 dropped and marched demureh^ up to be scratched. 



One crow was smaller and weaker than the others — like some 

 humans he "enjoyed poor health." He usually stood a little in 

 the background and kept up a series of "craw-awks" in a peevish 

 undertone. He alwavs wanted the bit of biscuit that some one 



