A Corvine Congress. 53 



take an airing and he will keep house while she 

 is gone. But significant as is all that we see 

 among mated birds, and we see but a mere 

 fraction of what we should to pose as interpre- 

 ters, it is little in comparison to that which is 

 constantly transpiring among the crows. They 

 do not live in fancied security as is true of other 

 birds ; they accept nothing through hopefulness, 

 and have no faith in appearances. Everything 

 with which they have to deal must be tested as 

 best they can, and so they live a life of constant 

 fear, such as mankind finds intolerable. A 

 happy crow, from our point of view, is an im- 

 possible creature ; but nevertheless, when crows 

 do have a moderate sense of security, and know 

 that their sentinels are alert and trustworthy, 

 they venture to make merry among themselves 

 and are playfully inclined. See them, for in- 

 stance, gathered on cakes of floating ice when 

 the river breaks up ; see them pitch and turn in 

 mid-air with almost swallow-like agility ; see 

 them hobnobbing with the gulls and hear them 

 laugh ! Perhaps this is a step too far, but it is 

 a wide-spread fancy, one I first heard of from 

 an old fisherman, and I have never been able to 



