The Delightful Hobby of Bird Watching [ 67 



If you succeed in raising a young bird, you will want to give it 

 its liberty as soon as it is able to shift for itself. In fact, there are 

 many species which cannot be legally kept in captivity without a 

 permit. Crows are one of the exceptions to this ruling, and they 

 may become fascinating pets. If they are taken as young birds, 

 they attach themselves firmly to a household and shun the efforts 

 of other crows to draw them away. They enjoy the companionship 

 of humans and can learn to talk like parrots. Unfortunately, some 

 people mistakenly believe that splitting a crow's tongue helps it 

 talk. This is a cruel thing to do, and futile as well; the crow does 

 not use its tongue to produce sounds. 



You will find tame crows at a number of zoos. The Philadelphia 

 Zoo used to keep one near the main entrance, where it would 

 greet arrivals with a cheery "Hello"; and there was another whose 

 favorite exclamation was, "Wow! Cold out!" even in midsummer. 

 A crow named Deacon was one of the first features of the Chil- 

 dren's Zoo at the Bronx Zoological Gardens in New York City. 

 Someone had found the bird, a forlorn little orphan, under a tree. 

 The crow repaid the good care he received from zoo officials by 

 playing the gracious host to countless boys and girls. 



Like crows, some owls make fine pets. An elderly friend of 

 mine delights in reminiscing about a great horned owl he had 

 when he was a boy. He found it as a small ball of down under a 

 huge nest in the woods near his home and immediately became 

 the bird's foster father. He named it Jack and took full charge of 

 its diet of raw fish, flesh, and fowl, keeping it healthy and happy 

 until it was full-grown. 



"Jack was an affectionate bird," he recalls. "Often he would 

 sit beside me and I would ruffle his feathers just behind his 

 head. He would bend forward, his eyes almost closed, and every 

 few minutes there would be a succession of deep baritone hoots." 

 Such gentle, trusting companionship can mean a great deal to a 

 child. 



