THE CROW. 3 



not doubt from the many accounts I have received of it 

 that a damaged Crow is often worried to death by its 

 fellows, and I myself once saw one that seemed to have 

 been having a very bad time at their hands, or what did 

 duty as such. But, nevertheless, the Crow is a bird of 

 many social virtues ; he will certainly rescue a friend in 

 distress if he can, for his evident and loudly expressed in- 

 dignation when one handles a dead or living comrade of 

 his makes it plain that a less powerful enemy than 

 man would probably be seriously attacked. Also he is a 

 good husband, feeding his wife assiduously, and letting 

 her pull their common booty away from him; and a ten- 

 der parent, much attached to his abominable offspring, 

 in defence of which Crows will attack even a human being 

 at times. The Crow, however, while looking leniently on 

 head-tickling and such-like simple connubial reciprocities, 

 is very severe upon any unfortunate couple of his 

 kind who go too far in a public display of affection, as I 

 have witnessed on more than one occasion ; and as for 

 the wing-drooping, tail-cocking strut which the English 

 rook indulges in during the breeding season, any Calcutta 

 Crow who presumed to show of! in such a way would most 

 likely be very soon taught that it was " no matter for his 

 swellings, nor his turkey-cocks." This persistent inter- 

 ference by Crows in each other's domestic affairs 

 may be the reason why the r e seem to be so few nests in 

 proportion to the numbers of Crows one sees. Although 

 this Crow lives so much in the company of man, it has not 

 taken much to nesting in buildings, usually preferring a 

 tree ; though here and there pairs will attempt a nest on 



