THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 9} 
(Aymenanthera Banksii) grows, which bears a profusion of juicy 
bluish-coloured berries on which the crows feast largely. They have 
also discovered the object of vineyards, and have developed a strong 
liking for grapes. It is astonishing how they will persevere im 
their attempts to steal this fruit. If permitted to exercise their own 
wills, they are great vandals, destroying more than they eat. 
Cunning, as they unquestionably are, they have yet to learn that 
when raiding on your grapes silence is golden. When swooping 
down for a dessert of Hermitage or Reisling, some of the crowd are 
bound to utter the well known ‘“‘caw caw.” Grasshoppers are 
greatly relished by these birds, and when abundant form the main 
staple of their diet. It is very interesting to watch how the birds 
scour the country where those insects are plentiful, setting about 
their work in a methodical way by spreading over a large tract and 
apparently sweeping all before them. They are large consumers of 
worms, caterpillars, grubs, beetles and other insects. In short 
nothing of the kind I have mentioned comes amiss to them. As a 
bird, there is little to admire about a crow, but as a useful scaven ger 
he deserves to be respected. 
I regard him as both cowardly and cruel. Anyone who has seen 
a crow hanging on to the tail of a poor weak motherless lamb, will, 
I think, endorse this opinion. From what I have witnessed, he 
seems to lack the courage to kill the lamb outright, and evinces a 
fiendish delight in tormenting the unfortunate creature. Just observe 
~ him should the lamb break from his hold, see his heartless look, 
listen to the horrible mecking “caw” he gives. I used to fancy 
when I saw a crow at such mischief that the interpretation of that 
peculiar “caw” was, “I will pull out your eyes yet.” To the 
uninitiated this ‘‘ caw” might be thought to be the ordinary voice of 
the bird, but an ear that is educated to what I shall unhesitatingly 
term bird language, could tell the true meaning in the altered 
modulation of the bird’s utterance. 
Though many may laugh at me as theoretical, I maintain: that 
the ‘caw caw” of a crow can convey according to the manner in 
which it is uttered a great variety of meanings, as for example, joy, 
alarm, love, fear, agony, mockery. &c. This rule applies to all 
birds that have a voice. 
The nervous organisation of the crow I consider more sensitive 
and acute than that of most birds. When struck by shot it frequently 
gives a screeching caw, proving that it is extremely suspectible of pain. 
When winged it makes strenuous efforts to escape, but when finally 
cornered accepts its fate with stoical indifference, blended with a 
certain amount of fight. 
Speaking of this reminds me that in many birds the eye is the: 
medium by which “ the agony of terror” is expressed. Some twenty- 
years ago, on the Old Man Plain, Riverina, I broke a teal’s wing. 
