TWO PET CROWS. 



One warm night two years ago last 

 June, as Cousin Fred was playing peggy 

 with a boy friend, he heard a loud cawing 

 noise out in the woods near his home. 

 Dropping his peggy stick, he said to his 

 friend: "Say, Joe, I believe there's a 

 nest of young crows out there. Come 

 and see." They left their game and went 

 out to the edge of the woods and there 

 they saw a mother crow teaching her 

 three little babies how to fly by pushing 

 them out of the nest, one by one. It 

 was all right to treat the first two crows 

 in this way, but the third crow was not 

 ready to fly yet and she fell to the ground 

 near Fred. 



Now, Fred is a little boy who is fond 

 of telling everything he knows and so, 

 of course, he told his big brother Harry 

 about the nest of young crows in the tall 

 pine. When Harry heard the news he 

 ran to the woods and climbed up — "shin- 

 ny up," the boys say — to see the nest, 

 but that was not enough. Those crows 

 must be tamed, and as they were learn- 

 ing to fly, Harry knew he would have to 

 get them soon. 



As it was getting dark the boys came 

 home and brought with them the young 

 crow which could not fly. She was put 

 in a wire cage, after the bottom had been 

 covered with hay. and was named Mary. 



The next morning the boys found Mary 

 dead in her cage, so they buried her in 

 the corn field. After breakfast Harry 

 went to the woods to get the other crows. 

 Mother Crow was not at home. She was 

 probably hunting worms for her dear 

 ones. Harry climbed up the tree and 

 secured the birds. They were placed in 

 the same wire cage. The larger was 

 named Billy McGee, the smaller Billy 

 McGaw. 



For the first two or three weeks, the 

 pets were fed on soaked crackers and 

 worms and they seemed to thrive and 

 grow fat. In July they needed more food 

 and became very fond of meat — espe- 

 cially beefsteak. 



One morning in August, Fred and 

 Harry were awakened by a racket in the 

 orchard. The boys went out to see what 

 was happening and what do you suppose 

 all the fuss was about? Both Billys were 

 in a pear tree and in an apple tree near- 

 by was a flock of wild crows sputtering 

 away as if they were crazy. They did 

 not fly away when the boys appeared, 

 but began all the louder, "Caw-caw-aw- 

 caw !" After awhile, Billy McGee and 

 Billy McGaw flew down on Fred's shoul- 

 ders because they were hungry and be- 

 cause Fred had always fed them in the 

 morning. The wild crows finally flew 

 away and the boys returned to the house. 



The crows grew wiser as they grew 

 older. Let me tell you some of their cute 

 ways. The boys slept in an east chamber, 

 their bed facing the east window. Very 

 often the crows would go to the eaves- 

 spout just over the east window and 

 about five o'clock in the morning they 

 would begin their crow talk, which, of 

 course, awoke the boys. Evidently the 

 crows thought it was time for the boys 

 to get up — perhaps it was. 



Once Fred went to the ice chest in the 

 shed to get some beefsteak for Billy Mc- 

 Gee, not knowing at the time where the 

 other crow was. He took the meat and 

 went outdoors to feed Billy McGee, for- 

 getting to shut the ice chest. When he 

 went back to close it Billy McGaw was in 

 full possession of everything and was 

 just ready to fly away with a piece of 

 meat twice as long as his own length. 



The crows were allowed the privilege 

 of coming into the kitchen until one day 

 Uncle's glasses were missing. One of 

 the crows had hidden the spectacles in 

 the flower garden. 



The boys had many money offers for 

 their crows but they never sold them, nor 

 did they keep them through the winter. 



One morning in August, Fred found 

 Billy McGee dead underneath the elm- 

 tree where the crows always slept at 

 night. Billy McGaw was shot in his 



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