120 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS 
number of insects in one place, more birds will 
come to feed on them. Some time when you are 
in the country when grass is cut, notice how 
many birds will come to eat the grasshoppers and 
other creatures that are uncovered when the hay 
is taken away. 
The crows take the same fair way of going to 
roost that the Brewer’s blackbirds do. 
I could tell you stories — true ones, too — all 
day about this bird, and his services to the 
farmer. We all know how wise he is, and how 
hard it is to trap him. 
I will give you one little story, to show his 
kindness to his fellows. Then, when you have 
a chance to watch one, I hope you will take pains 
to see for yourself what he does and what he 
eats. Do not believe all you hear or read about 
him, for I’m sorry to say there are some persons 
who like so well to tell a sensational story that 
they do not take any trouble to find out if it is 
true. 
The story is this. Two crows were caught and 
kept in a large cage out of doors. It happened 
to be a time when food for birds was rather 
scarce. Some one noticed that the birds seemed 
to eat a good deal, and he set himself to watch 
them. He found that the prisoners in the cage 
were giving some of their food through the bars 
