CHAP. xiii. CROWS AND CRAB-SHELLS. 271 



the good they do us. Let them meddle with any 

 of our seeds or fruits, and the hue and cry is, 

 ' Get guns and shoot every one of them/ I hope a 

 better day will soon arise for these lovely little birds, 

 when they will be cherished and encouraged rather 

 than hated and destroyed." 



The story is told of an ancient philosopher having 

 been killed by an eagle that dropped a tortoise upon his 

 head for the purpose of breaking its shell. The story 

 seems to be confirmed by the practice of the Carrion 

 and Hooded Crows, thus described by Edward: 

 " They are to be found on certain parts of our coast 

 all the year round. Our keepers destroy them when- 

 ever the opportunity occurs. I wonder that our 

 fishermen do not destroy them also, as they feed upon 

 a certain crustacean (Carcinus mcenas) which is often 

 used for bait. One would think that the crab's shell 

 would be proof against the crow ; but no ! He goes 

 aloft with the crab, and lets it fall upon a stone or a 

 rock chosen for the purpose. If it does not break, he 

 seizes it again, goes up higher, lets it fall, and repeats 

 his operation again and again until his object is ac- 

 complished. When a convenient stone is once met 

 with, the birds resort to it for a long time. I myself 

 know a pretty high rock, that has been used by suc- 

 cessive generations of crows for about twenty years ! 



"Besides being fond of crabs, these carrion crows 

 are fond of fish, and though they are good fishers 

 themselves, they seldom lose an opportunity of assail- 



