TWO BIRDS THAT CAME BACK 109 
“T know about that cat,” said Tommy. ‘The Select- 
men have offered five dollars’ reward for it, and’ it kills 
more chickens, even big roosters, than all the Hawks 
this side of Bald Hill.” 
“After Jacob had driven the cat away,’ continued 
Goldilocks, ‘he picked up the young Crow to try to find 
out why it had not flown away like its brothers. At first 
it was afraid and fought and pecked his fingers, but by 
and by it let him handle it, and he found that one wing 
was twisted, so that it was of no use. The point where 
the long quill feathers grow was turned under, Jake said, 
just the way it is in a roast chicken, and it must have 
happened when the bird was little and had no feathers, 
because those on that point of the wing were stunted and 
twisted where they had tried to grow after it was hurt. 
Jake straightened the wing as well as he could, and 
clipped the feathers on the other one so that he shouldn’t 
be so lopsided. The wing is stiff and doesn’t work rightly 
yet, but Jake thinks that after next summer’s moult the 
feathers may come in better; meanwhile I’ve called him 
Jim, because that is the usual name for tame crows. 
“Jim likes to live about here and he does such a lot of 
funny things. Why, the other day, out in the arbour, 
he dropped the little afternoon-tea sugar-tongs into the 
cream jug and took all the lumps of sugar in the bowl and 
hid them in the empty robin’s nest overhead, and we 
should never have dreamed that he had done it if Anne 
hadn’t come in with fresh cakes and startled him so that 
he dropped the last lump. He moves very quickly, for 
he can fly a little and he uses his wings and beak to help 
him climb, something like a parrot. Jacob has put him 
