132 TALKS ABOUT BIRDS 



catch a small active dodging one on the wing, 

 as it is for a stout policeman to catch a lively 

 small boy in a lot of winding streets, so that 

 the large birds cannot turn on the king-crow 

 to punish him ; while, whenever he catches 

 them up he can punish them to some purpose, 

 as I found when I handled a live king-crow 

 which had been caught. His bill and claws 

 are remarkably sharp for so small a bird, and 

 can make themselves felt even on tough 

 human skin ; so that it is not wonderful that 

 other birds are afraid of him. It is not only 

 birds that the king-crow attends to, for my 

 friend Mr. Dewar has seen a monkey driven 

 away by them ; monkeys are very properly 

 looked on as suspicious characters by birds, 

 for they are the greatest of birds'-nesters 

 whenever they get the chance. 



The king-crow is found all across the warm 

 parts of the old world from West Africa to 

 China ; indeed, I think the two queer birds on 

 the well-known " willow-pattern " plates are 

 meant for king-crows. This struck me very 

 forcibly in India when I saw two of these 

 fighting in the air. He has relations, too, 

 with very similar habits and ideas, so that 



