AMERICAN CROW. 321 



quadrupeds, as well as lizards, snakes, and insects, which have been partly 

 destroyed by the flames. At the same season they retire in immense num- 

 bers to roost by the margins of ponds, lakes, and rivers, covered with a 

 luxuriant growth of rank weeds or cat-tails. They may be seen proceed- 

 ing to such places more than an hour before sunset, in long straggling 

 hues, and in silence, and are joined by the Grakles, Starlings, and Reed 

 Birds, while the Fish-Crows retire from the very same parts to the inte- 

 rior of the woods many miles distant from any shores. 



No sooner has the horizon brightened at the approach of day, than 

 the Crows sound a reveille, and then with mellowed notes, as it were, en- 

 gage in a general thanksgiving for the peaceful repose they have enjoyed. 

 After this they emit their usual barking notes, as if consulting each other 

 respecting the course they ought to follow. Then parties in succession 

 fly off" to pursue their avocations, and relieve the reeds from the weight 

 that bent them down. 



The Crow is extremely courageous in encountering any of its winged 

 enemies. Several individuals may frequently be seen pursuing a Hawk 

 or an Eagle with remarkable vigour, although I never saw or heard of 

 one pouncing on any bird for the purpose of preying on it. They now 

 and then teaze the Vultures, when those foul birds are alighted on trees, 

 with their wings spread out, but they soon desist, for the Vultures pay 

 no attention to them. 



The most remarkable feat of the Crow, is the nicety with which it, 

 like the Jay, pierces an egg with its bill, in order to carry it off, and eat 

 it with security. In this manner 1 have seen it steal, one after another, 

 all the eggs of a wild Turkey's nest. You will perceive, reader, that I 

 endeavour to speak of the Crow with all due impartiality, not wishing by 

 any means to conceal its faults, nor withholding my testimony to its me- 

 rits, which are such as I can well assure the farmer, that were it not for 

 Its race, thousands of corn stalks would every year fall prostrate, in con- 

 sequence of being cut over close to the ground by the destructive grubs 

 which are called " cut-worms." 



I never saw a pet Crow in the United States, and therefore cannot say 

 with how much accuracy they may imitate the human voice, or, indeed, 

 if they possess the power of imitating it at all, which I very much doubt, 

 as in their natural state they never evince any talents for mimicry. I can- 

 not say if it possess the thieving propensities attributed by authors to the 

 European Crow. 



