CHAPTER XI 

 TWO RASCALLY RELATIVES 



Ceow — Blue Jay 



The Crow 



Length — 16 to 17.5 inches. 



Male — Glossy black with violet reflections. Wings appear 



saw-toothed when spread, and almost equal the tail in 



length. 

 Female — ^Like male, except that the black is less brilliant. 

 Range — Throughout North America, from Hudson Bay to 



the Gulf of Mexico. 

 Migrations — ^Permanent resident. 



{See plate, page 131.) 



If we have an eye for the picturesque, we place a certain 

 value upon the broad, strong dash of color in the landscape, 

 given by a flock of crows flapping their course above a corn- 

 field, against an October sky; but the practical eye of the 

 ^ farmer looks only for his gun in such a case. To him the 

 crow is an unmitigated nuisance, all the more maddening 

 because it is clever enough to circumvent every means 

 devised for its ruin. Nothing escapes its rapacity; fear is 

 unknown to it. It commits petty larceny and even mur- 

 der in broad daylight, chooses the most conspicuous 



133 



