CORVUS FRUGIVORUS : COMMON CROW. 315 



seems to hold its own, in spite of strychnine and gun- 

 powder, without any appreciable disaster to agricul- 

 ture ; the comely, glistening black form being per- 

 haps, after all, only a "scare-crow," incapable of any 

 serious mischief. 



The habits and manners of Crows depend so much 

 upon changeful circumstances, that it is difficult to 

 say much in a few words of the exhibitions of such 

 versatile characters. A Crow may be found in as 

 varying moods as a man, and attending to affairs as 

 various as those of human vanity or profit. To say 

 what a Crow will be found about at any given time or 

 under any given circumstances, is to say what is goincr 

 on in its mind ; and that is not easy. One Crow, in 

 short, plays many parts with great address, and usu- 

 ally with entire success. When a Crow speaks, the 

 monosyllable is always to the point; its "caw" is a 

 case where dictum and fiat are one. 



As anecdotes of Crows are always in order, I may 

 refer to the story told by Mr. A. M. Frazar (Bull. 

 Nutt. Club, i, 1876, p. 76) of a Crow which stood 

 patiently upon an ant-hill and allowed the busy insects 

 to run all over him, and pick off the parasites which 

 infested his body. "The operation," Mr. Frazar adds, 

 «« seemed mutually agreeable to all parties." But how 

 about the parasites, thus rudely snatched from happy 

 homes and condemned to death? 



The nest is built in the woods, preferably in high, 

 thick forest, where the tree selected is usually one 

 whose foliage is thickest, as pine or cedar. Thus it 

 happens that though the structure is a large one, it is 

 not so often observed as that of a Hawk, comparing 

 the relative numbers of these kinds of nests. The 



