James did not like to be touched or handled. 

 He would not allow any of the children except his 

 master to pick him up. 



He never showed his really finest manners how- 

 ever to anyone but the mother ; when she came 

 out of the house he would hurry to meet her, duck- 

 ing and bowing in the most absurd manner, and 

 cawing softly. 



James' master tried to teach James to talk, and 

 declared that the crow really tried to call him by 

 name. The others would hardly believe it. 



But at any rate James could laugh. He often 

 used to startle people by harsh peals of laughter as 

 he sat hidden among the shrubbery. He seemed 

 to be enjoying some huge joke all by himself among 

 the leaves. 



All through the summer and winter, James seemed 

 very happy in his half-captive life. But when 

 spring came, and everything was bursting into bud 

 and the birds were busy about their nesting, the 

 poor crow drooped and seemed sad. 



He would crouch on the lawn looking up at the 

 moving clouds above, and sometimes when he heard 

 the wild crows out in the fields he would half spread 

 his wings with an answering caw. 



