| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
-~ Birds of Massachusetts. 105 
to ; 
The American Crow, Corvus Americanus, perse- 
cuted as it has been for years, still abounds in Mas- 
sachusetts, as is testified by the scare crows and 
other ornamental devices, that embellish our fields 
in the spring. It is not to be supposed that the 
sagacious crow mistakes for living beings these pro- 
ductions of the statuary's art; but he easily under- 
stands what they are meant for, and makes his dep- 
redations in a less publie manner than he might oth- 
erwise do. His suspicions are always awake, and 
he exerts a caution, which has given rise to the 
imagination that he can smell powder; but this, 
though a common belief, implies a delicacy of sense 
and a knowledge of cause and effect, quite beyond 
the compass even of the crow. His bearing ina 
domesticated state contrasts powerfully with his 
shyness when wild; he becomes familiar and easy, 
talks loudly and incessantly, steals and secretes 
whatever he perceives is valued, opens the door by 
treading on the latch, and plays a great variety of 
tricks, some of them laughable, others very annoy- 
ing. In his wild state, he exerts all this shrewd- 
ness in the work of procuring a subsistence. His 
artis so perfect, that he can, by inserting his bill 
in the egg of the largest bird, carry it away from 
the nest to be eaten at his leisure. In this manner, 
he will bear away, one after another all the eggs 
in the nest of a wild turkey. His cunning does not 
arise from want of courage, for he may sometimes 
be seen chasing a hawk or an eagle, which, pressed 
VOL. II. —NO. I—IL 14 — 1 
