WAYS OF NATURE 



the usual high-keyed note of alarm. It may have 

 meant &quot; Look out ! &quot; yet it seemed to me like the ask 

 ing of alms: &quot;Here we are, three hungry neighbors 

 of yours; give us food.&quot; So I brought out the en 

 trails and legs of a chicken, and placed them upon 

 the snow. The crows very soon discovered what I 

 had done, and with the usual suspicious movement 

 of the closed wings which has the effect of emphasiz 

 ing the birds alertness, approached and devoured the 

 food or carried it away. But there was not the least 

 strife or dispute among them over the food. Indeed, 

 each seemed ready to give precedence to the others. 

 In fact, the crow is a courtly, fine-mannered bird. 

 Birds of prey will rend one another over their food; 

 even buzzards will make some show of mauling one 

 another with their wings ; but I have yet to see any 

 thing of the kind with that gentle freebooter, the 

 crow. Yet suspicion is his dominant trait. Anything 

 that looks like design puts him on his guard. The 

 simplest device in a cornfield usually suffices to 

 keep him away. He suspects a trap. His wit is not 

 deep, but it is quick, and ever on the alert. 



One of our natural history romancers makes the 

 crows flock in June. But the truth is, they do not 

 flock till September. Through the summer the dif 

 ferent families keep pretty well together. You may 

 see the old ones with their young foraging about 

 the fields, the young often being fed by their par 

 ents. 



266 



