THE CARRION CROW IN THE BALANCE 49 



wall and floor. He had discovered that the 

 place was infested by mice, and was watching- a. 

 crevice. The instant that a mouse put out a 

 head the crow had him in his beak, and would 

 kill him by striking him with lightninii- rapiditv 

 two or three times on the floor, then swallow 

 him. From that time mouse-catcliing was this 

 bird's sole occupation and amusement, and he 

 went about the house in the silent and stealthy 

 manner of a cat. 



' I am anxious to get the histor}^ of a tame 

 crow that never had his wing-feathers clipped, 

 and did not begin the domestic life as an old 

 bird with several pellets of lead in his body.' 



Curiously enough, not long after this article 

 appeared another bird-lover in London was 

 asking the same question in another journal. 

 This was Mr. Mandeville B. Phillips, of South 

 Norwood, then private secretary to the late 

 Archbishop of Canterbury. By accident he had 

 become possessed of a carrion crow, sold to him 

 as a young raven taken from a nest at Ely. 

 This bird made so interesting a pet that its 

 owner became desirous of hearing the experi- 

 ences of others who had kept carrion crows. 

 Mr. Phillips, in kindly giving me the history of 



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