54 STORIES OF BIRD LIFE 



carry his resisting booty and once he came near lighting ; 

 but he soon vanished in the gloom, going in the direction of 

 the swamp. 



Next morning when I awoke I heard a great outcry 

 among the crows. They were flying excitedly about their 

 roosting pines cawing and cawing with every possible 

 degree of anger in their voices. They seemed to be dis- 

 cussing something of importance, and when a conclusion 

 was reached they at once started to carry out their plans. 

 Over the peanut field they streamed, and continued on 

 across the old cornfield where the bobwhite family was 

 taking its breakfast. Straight to the bottom land woods 

 they flew, and scattering about overhead began searching 

 the trees and bushes, craning their necks downward and 

 peering into every place where an owl could hide. The 

 clamor never ceased for a moment as the search went on. 

 What the signal was I could not tell, but at some word all 

 turned their attention to a tall cedar, in which a sharp eye 

 had found the object of their quest. It was the old owl, 

 sitting on a limb close to the trunk and blinking his big 

 eyes as if in wonder at all the unusual noises about. Oh, 

 how they screamed at him ! ' ' Murderer, murderer, ' ' they 

 yelled. **You owl, you owl— you eat folks raw, raw, caw, 

 caw,— we saw, we saw, you old outlaw, outlaw." They 

 reviled him, they told him as plainly as if in words which 



