I 



194 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW [13:5— May, 1917 



having the crow around so Hank sold it to me for the sum of 

 twenty-five cents in August, 191 5. 



I named him Jack, and he will steal anything brighc and will 

 hide it under leaves or anything that he can lift wich his bill. He 

 tipped the milk bottle over once and was in the act of tearing up 

 the tickets when a neighbor called and told me what he was up to. 

 Some carpenters were working next door and the crow went over 

 chere and brought some nails home after he had dragged some tools 

 away. 



After I had had him about a month a woman told me that if I 

 slit his tongue he would learn to talk and a neighbor said that he 

 knew how and so I let him do the job. He forced the crow's 

 tongue out with his finger and held the crow against his knee and 

 then with a very sharp knife he slit the tongue a little down the 

 middle, about three-sixteenths inches. He said that if he had cut 

 any farther he would cut a blood vein and the crow would bleed to 

 death. 



The next day I repeated "hello" over and over to it and in a 

 couple of days I heard him trying to say it and now he can say 

 "hello" and "hey Bob" as plain as any one. 



In April, 19 16, we moved to the country and Jack went to killing 

 young chickens. He killed seven that we know of and I have 

 caught him at eating eggs. He spoiled some water melons by 

 pecking at them and one day my mother put two pounds of pork 

 on the back window sill outside and when she come to get dinner she 

 beheld Mr. Jack hauling it around the yard. 



His feathers had grown out so that he could fly and he took to 

 flying away and one day he flew from one telephone pole to the 

 next, following my brothers to school. He stood on the fire escape 

 all day yelling "hello" with all his might. My brother caught him 

 after school and carried him home. I cut the feathers from one 

 wing that night because I did not want him to be bothering the 

 children at school. 



With all his bad qualities, he makes a good pet anyway so I 

 think that I will never get rid of him. 



On warm days he takes a bath about six times in a pan of water 

 that is meant for the chickens' water dish. The chickens and the 

 crow are not very good friends and the older chickens chase the 

 crow around and the crow fights with the younger ones. 



