38 STORIES OF EARTH A XI) SKY 



in gardens and orchard trees wish all Crows to 

 be banished to the wild fields beyond the moun- 

 tain." 



44 Why don't they come up to be heard then?" 

 asked Anne. 



44 They are too cowardly ; that is one reason 

 why the Rulers of Birdland despise them so. 

 They are almost the only birds who. will leave 

 their young in times of danger. Then, too, 

 they sneak about and lie so. Only think, to- 

 day they have sent a poor old Crow, who had 

 one eye frozen in the storm, to plead for them, 

 instead of coining up in a body themselves." 



44 Hush ! the hearing is to begin," called little 

 Oo-oo, circling about, as the old crow hopped 

 feebly to a stump and cleared his throat. 



44 1 am Kaw Ondaig, the lame-winged Crow 

 from the Cedar Swamp. I have been lame- 

 winged for many years, but now I'm one-eyed 

 also. In the great storm, I was too slow to fly 

 into the warm shelter of the old barn like the 

 other birds, and besides, I feared it was a trap, 

 so one of my eyeballs froze, and in thawing, 

 burst, and I am half blind. 



44 You say my tribe are cowards. It is too 

 true, but those who are always chased always 

 run, so it comes by inheritance. Look at the 



