Music of the Wild 



nest at a height of less than thirty-five feet, and 

 from that np to fifty. At that distance it is not 

 possible that male and female or difi^erent pairs 

 can be told apart withont strong glasses; where 

 there is one family there are snre to be others close, 

 and no matter how impndent a single crow may 

 be M'hen yon are without a gim and meet him for- 

 aging in your fields, he is a wary bird when you 

 approach his nest. 



In captivity crows have been known to do many 

 peculiar things of their own initiative, such as hid- 

 "Black as i'^g f ood given them when they are not hungry, for 

 a Crow " i^ise at another time, or rubbing against a stone a 

 caterpillar to free it from spines. They can be 

 taught to talk by splitting the tips of their tongues, 

 and can re])eat from two to six words distinctly and 

 at a2)propriate times. In life they never are quite 

 so black as they are painted, for the neck and back 

 feathers liave beautiful purplish bronze tints in 

 strong light. These crows appeared to have a 

 sense of humor, for when ^ve left the forest -s^ith- 

 out having interfere<l with them they seemed to 

 imagine they had vanquished us and followed for 

 a distance, crying something that sounded much 

 more like, "Haw! Haw! Haw!" than "Caw!" 



I ne\'er have made an exhaustive studj' of 

 crows, but I have penetrated their life history 

 somewhat, enough to get all that can be learned by 

 seeing and hearing; and that, come to think of it. 



