WAYS OF NATURE 



rate, it has this effect, and they come hurrying from 

 all points. 



What their various calls mean, who shall tell ? 

 That lusty caw-aw, caw-aw that one hears in spring 

 and summer, like the voice of authority or com 

 mand, what does it mean ? I never could find out. 

 It is doubtless from the male. A crow will utter it 

 while sitting alone on the fence in the pasture, as 

 well as when flying through the air. The crow s cry 

 of alarm is easily distinguished ; all the other birds 

 and wild creatures know it, and the hunter who is 

 stalking his game is apt to swear when he hears it. 

 I have heard two crows in the spring, seated on 

 a limb close together, give utterance to many curi 

 ous, guttural, gurgling, ventriloquial sounds. What 

 were they saying ? It was probably some form of 

 the language of love. 



I venture to say that no one has ever yet heard 

 the crow utter a complaining or a disconsolate note. 

 He is always cheery, he is always self-possessed, he 

 is a great success. Nothing in Bermuda made me 

 feel so much at home as a flock of half a dozen of 

 our crows which I saw and heard there. At one time 

 they were very numerous on the island, but they 

 have been persecuted till only a remnant of the 

 tribe remains. 



i 



My friend and neighbor through the year, 

 Self-appointed overseer 

 268 



