CROW LIFE 



the pursuit of his calling has grown so accustomed to death 

 in all its forms as to take no note of it, or with a courage 

 born of himger, carries out his original intention. 



When a murderous gunner watches for these birds in 

 the field of newly planted grain, they usually fail to appear 

 till after his departure, when again they seek the old foraging 

 grounds, but, with a cunning developed by persecution, dis- 

 appear again on his return. Were his enemies to succeed 

 in banishing him from their fields a retributive justice would 

 imdoubtedly permit the harvest to suffer. It is not through 

 self-interest, however, that the agriculturist will learn to pro- 

 tect him, but through the stronger force of sentiment. 



On hearing farmers talk, one would' think that the diet 

 of the crow is entirely granivorous, while no bird has a more 

 adaptable appetite; everything eatable is perfectly accept- 

 able — ^harmful grubs, beetles, worms, young rats, mice, 

 snakes and moles, as well as mollusks, acorns, nuts, wild 

 fruits and berries are among his staple articles of diet. And, 

 though it is no longer believed that "he shakes contagion 

 from his ominous wing," he occasions a lamentable amount 

 of infant mortality among rabbits and squirrels, and even 

 among weak-limbed lambs, depriving them of health, 

 streng-th and happiness — ^but not through magic. These last 

 he attacks in the eye as the most vulnerable point. In the 

 old days he is reputed to have met with great success as an 

 oculist; in these his patients never recover. 



In winter, when cereal stores and acorns which supply 

 the season's want lie buried in snow, and when such animals 

 as in youth were ready prey have grown to a more formidable 

 majority, crows frequently suffer and perish from hunger, 

 and when snows lie long on the groimd many of them are 

 found dead beneath their roosting places. 



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