CHAPTEE V. 



HIS AMUSEMENTS. 



THE struggle for existence does not press very 

 ■ heavily on the crow. It is obvious that a bird 

 which eats anything will experience less difficulty 

 in securing food than one which can live only on 

 some special form of diet, such as insects, or honey, 

 or fruit. The crow, therefore, has plenty of spare 

 time upon his hands. Being the cleverest and the 

 most intelligent of birds (all ornithologists are now 

 agreed in placing the corvidae at the head of the 

 fowls of the air), he is not content to sleep away 

 his leisure. The crow is a restless bird. When 

 awake he is never still for a moment. He must be 

 doing something; when he is not looking for food 

 he indulges in some game, and his favourite game is 



5 



