WINTER COMRADES 155 



birds; but striking a balance between the good 

 and evil wrought, they will be found to be real 

 friends, whose presence, after all, is of material 

 advantage to the farmer. 



Entirely apart from the utilitarian view is 

 the sentimental side of the Crow's case. Per- 

 sonally I have found him a very interesting and 

 profitable object for observation and close 

 study. They seem to know a great deal about 

 man's ways and habits of thought, particularly 

 where their own safety is concerned. If, gun in 

 hand, you approach a flock of Crows busily 

 feeding in the field, the sentinel (there is always 

 one posted on some prominent lookout) w^ill give 

 the alarm and away will go the whole band long 

 before you are within gun shot. Leave the gun 

 behind and you can get so near you can almost 

 hit them with stones or a stick. Riding or driv- 

 ing along a country road, you can approach 

 within a few rods, especially in the spring when 

 they first put in an appearance. Usually noisy 

 enough, when on mischief bent and in the 

 neighborhood of their nests, they are silence 

 itself. But let a band chance upon an Owl, be- 

 wildered by the daylight, they proceed at once 

 to mob him, raising a clamor that is heard a 

 mile away. Crow ways are mysterious, perhaps 

 past man's finding out, but I know of no bird 

 that promises more in the way of variety and 

 the unexpected in its traits, so that the student 

 will find in this many-sided bird much that will 

 repay close and protracted observation. 



Crows usually mate in March, and in April 

 is built the nest of coarse sticks lined with moss 



