AMERICAN CROW 



'T^WO close relatives there are which, like the 

 ■■- poor, are always with us — the crow and the 

 blue jay. Both are mischievous rascals, extraor- 

 dinarily clever, with the most highly developed 

 brains that any of our birds possess. Some men 

 of science believe that, because of their brain 

 power, they rightly belong at the head of the 

 bird class where the thrushes now stand; but 

 who wishes to see a family of songless rogues 

 awarded the highest honours of the class 

 Aves? 



No bird is so well know^n to * 'every child," 

 so admired by artists, so hated by farmers, 

 as the crow, who flaps his leisurely way above 

 the cornfields with a caw for friend and foe 

 alike, not caring the least for anyone's opinion 

 of him, good or bad. Perhaps he knows his 

 own true worth better than the average farmer, 

 who has persecuted him with bounty laws, shot- 

 gun, and poison for generations. The crow 

 keeps no account of the immense numbers 

 of grubs and larvse he picks up as he walks after 

 the plough every spring, nor does the far- 

 mer, who nevertheless counts the corn stolen 

 as fast as it is planted, and as fast as it ripens, 



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