THE CROW'S WING 



rain, hail, or sleet, the rattle of menacing 

 thunder, the lightning's crooked darts, or the 

 roar of gathering tempests. " As the crow 

 flies " has become a proverb for directness of 

 flight, for the nearest line between two dis- 

 tant points. His awkward sweep of wing 

 will carry him along without apparent effort 

 at a rate of from forty to fifty miles an hour, 

 and in staying powers there are few birds 

 which can match prowess with the crow. 



His song is not a varied one. The queru- 

 lous, inquisitive " caw, caw " that he sends 

 out is loud and curt, and carries with it an 

 apprehensive tone, as though he would like 

 to hear a responsive and assuring cry from 

 one of his own kind. For with bullet, trap, 

 and shot-gun he is remorselessly sought, and 

 as he is more and more hunted he grows ex- 

 ceedingly cunning, and his habits of retiring 

 modesty become almost a mania with him. 

 About long rifle-range is as near as he is com- 

 fortable with a man in the average neighbor- 

 hood. Where a person is in a buggy or 

 wagon the crow, like many other birds, does 

 not get so suspicious of the occupants of the 

 vehicle as he would be of a pedestrian. And 



