CROW 



1649 



CROWN 



CROW, or CROWS, a tribe of Indians re- 

 lated to the Sioux. They formerly occupied 

 the valley of the Big Horn River and later 

 the country about the headwaters of the Yel- 

 lowstone in Northwestern United States. They 

 were skilful horsemen, and continually at war 

 with surrounding tribes. The women excelled 

 in the manufacture of ornamented wearing ap- 

 parel. They now number about 1,800, and live 

 on a reservation in Montana. See INDIANS, 

 AMERICAN. 



CROW BLACKBIRD, or PURPLE CRACKLE , 

 grack"l, also called maize thief and keel-tailed 

 grackle, is a handsome blackbird with violet, 

 blue, copper and green tints, and is especially 

 conspicuous for the bright yellow iris of its 

 eye. Its range is in Eastern North America 

 from the Gulf of Mexico into Southern Can- 

 ada. It feeds chiefly on grasshoppers and the 

 eggs and young of birds, only occasionally at- 

 tacking crops. It is about a foot long, with 

 a tail, longer than the wings, which it uses 

 for steering. Its call is a wheezy whistle. In 

 the warmer states it remains all the year, but 

 migrates in great flocks from the colder regions 

 of the north. 



The bronze grackle, found west of the Alle- 

 ghany Mountains, also from Connecticut to 

 Labrador, is a similar bird, differing chiefly in 

 its more brownish tint and louder call. In 

 My Garden Acquaintances Lowell gives a very 

 pleasing picture of grackles. 



CROWDER, ENOCH HERBERT (1859- ), an 

 American army officer who as provost-marshal 

 was charged with the responsibility of the opera- 

 tion of the selective draft law in 1917, after 

 the United States entered the War of the Na- 

 tions (see page 6174). He was born in Mis- 

 souri, saw service in the Spanish-American War 

 as lieutenant-colonel of volunteer infantry, and 

 at its close joined the regular army. In 1901 

 he was raised to the grade of brigadier-general 

 and was sent to the Philippine Islands, where he 

 remained three years. Thereafter he was mili- 

 tary observer in Manchuria with the Japanese 

 army, after which he was detailed to Cuba dur- 

 ing the second American occupation. 



In 1911 Crowder was sent as envoy extraor- 

 dinary and minister plenipotentiary on a special 

 mission to Chile. When not on duty he makes 

 his home in Kansas City, but since 1912 has 

 seldom been absent from the War Department. 



CROWN, an English silver coin of the value of 



five shillings, or one-fourth of a pound sterling. 



This is equivalent to about $1.22 in United 



States or Canadian money. It bears a likeness 



104 



of the reigning sovereign on one side and a 

 crown on the other. The name was probably 

 first given to this particular coin in the reign 

 of Charles I, a special issue then being known 

 as the Oxford Crown. In the time of Henry 

 VIII a coin of similar value was issued in 

 gold, but this coinage was replaced by silver 

 in the reign of Edward VI. The crown, as now 

 in circulation, weighs 436.3636 troy grains, of 

 which .925 is pure silver. It is heavy and 

 cumbersome and is often mistaken for a double 

 florin, or four-shilling piece, which it closely 

 resembles. The crown is also the monetary 

 unit of Austria-Hungary, Denmark, Norway 

 and Sweden. Se.e COINS, FOREIGN, tabfe of 

 values, page 1468. 



CROWN, an ornament designed for state 

 occasions and worn on the head of a monarch 



ENGLISH CROWNS 



(a) Worn by Queen Victoria; (ft) the crown 

 of King George V. 



as an emblem of sovereignty. The custom was 

 borrowed probably from the Romans, who 

 decorated their popular heroes with wreaths 

 and garlands, which gradually were made of 

 metal, usually gold. The modern crown is in 

 fact an evolution of the jeweled head dress of 

 the Assyrian and Egyptian monarchs and the 

 diadem of the Roman emperors. From the 

 reign of Constantine (306-337) the diadem was 

 regarded as the emblem of imperial power. It 

 gradually received additional ornaments until 

 the modern elaborate crown was evolved. The 

 British royal crown is a gold circlet, ornamented 

 with diamonds, pearls and other precious stones, 

 heightened by crosses and fleur de lis, from 

 which rise four arches surmounted by a jeweled 

 gold cross. Some of the jewels in the crown 

 of King George of England are of great his- 

 toric interest and are regarded as almost price- 

 less. The intrinsic value of crown and jewels 

 has been estimated at about $1,000,000. A few 

 of the crowns of Indian princes contain jewels 

 whose value seems almost fabulous to Western 

 peoples. 



