SOME MISCHIEF-MAKERS 127 
they stood in the open, not close to woods where Crows 
and Hawks could spy them out and sneak up or dash 
down according to their habits. 
“T well knew the bad name that Crows and Hawks have 
among poultry-raisers, so Jacob roofed the chicken-runs 
with wire, for, even if he had seen Crows there, I would not 
allow shooting on the place during the nesting season. 
“Still the chickens disappeared, and for several nights 
Jacob sat up and watched, and what do you suppose — 
cats and weasels were the guilty ones, not the Hawks and 
Crows ! 
“But late in May the Crows prepared to raise their 
second brood, mending their old nest, and Jacob said, 
‘Something is robbing the nests in the orchard; I think 
surely it is the Crows and Jays, for when they come 
around all the song-birds chase them and say right out 
as plain as possible, ‘ They’re thieves — they’re thieves! ”’’ 
So I watched from behind the blinds yonder, and in every 
spot where I could see into the tree-tops and be unob- 
served — and then I knew it was true that the Crows 
and Jays were detestable cannibals. 
“One single morning I saw the Crow take three robin’s 
eggs and bring a tiny little robin squab to his mate on 
the nest, and one day, as a Crow flew high over my head, 
I thought I saw something strange in its beak, and clapped 
my hands sharply, when—what do you think? A poor 
little half-dead Wood Thrush, big enough to have its eyes 
open and some feathers, dropped almost on my upturned 
face, and thus the Crow was caught in the very act of 
killing. So, then, I said to myself, we can put tar on the 
seed-corn and protect our young chickens with wire, but 
