240 THE COMICAL CROW BABY. 



about lookino^ in vain to see sometliinof attrac- 

 tive. A robin wbo was also engaged in a food- 

 hunt came and "took his measure," looking 

 sharply at him as if to decide whether it was his 

 duty to go for him. He plainly recognized the 

 youthfulness of the intruder, for after a mo- 

 ment's study he passed on, attending to his own 

 business, while the young crow stared at him in 

 open-mouthed curiosity. At last the crow baby 

 picked up an object — I could not tell what — 

 which hung from his beak while he balanced 

 the probabilities of its being good, aiding his de- 

 liberations by a gentle lift of the wings which 

 looked like a shrug of the shoulders. He de- 

 cided to risk it, and swallowed, but instantly 

 choked it up, and for some time shook his head 

 as if to get rid of even the memory of it. When, 

 a few minutes after this disastrous experience, 

 he heard another baby utter the cries that in- 

 dicate being fed, it seemed to suggest to him an 

 easier way of getting satisfaction out of life. 

 He spread his wings, flew to a tree and began 

 to call. 



To be a crow mamma is no sinecure. My 

 heart went out to the poor souls who must be 

 torn between anxiety for their dear "cantanker- 

 ous " offspring, and fear of their deadly enemy, 

 man. I watched with dee^ interest their method 

 of training. One day I saw a baby get an ob- 



