CROWS AND THEIR COUSINS 



277 



there is a Robin's or Dove's nest at hand, they think it 

 is foolish to look further, and help themselves to fresh 

 eggs or squabs. This makes us very angry, and we 

 have the great Crow's nest — a peck or two of sticks, 

 lined with the bark of cedars and grape vines — pulled 

 from the tree-top where the crafty bird had hidden it. 



" It is perfectly right to do so, from 

 our point of view. I, for one, do 

 not wish Crows in my garden 

 or about the Farm, where 

 I see only the bad 

 side of their 

 characters. 



American Crow. 



So we chase them away, and put scarecrows in the 

 corn-fields. Do the Crows care ? Not a bit ! They 

 laugh and talk about us behind our backs, and before 

 our faces too. They pretend to be afraid, and fly away 

 if a man appears a quarter of a mile off ; but merely 

 to settle down in another part of the field until their 

 watcher tells them to move away again. 



" There is a watcher for every flock, who gives the 

 order to fly, and warns the troop at every approach of 

 danger. 



