236 VERTEBRATES. 



It kills mice with a single blow of its beak, and then derouni 

 them piecemeal. Grasshoppers, beetles, etc., are also killed by a 

 squeeze across the thorax, and the head, wings, and legs are 

 twisted off before the bird begins to eat them. It treats bees, 

 wasps, and other stinged insects, with much more caution. The 

 feathers upon the crown of its head are of a greyish white color, 

 a peculiarity instantly distinguishing it from the rook. It is fre- 

 quently kept tame, and is very amusing in captivity. 



The Crow, or Carrion Grow, as it is erroneously called, 

 seldom feeds on carrion, for poor indeed would be his meals were 

 he dependent on dead sheep or horses for a livelihood. Possibly 

 the name was given as a distinction between it and the rook. 

 Waterton states that the flesh of the Carrion Crow is just as good 



as that of the rook, and relates 

 how he once served up a pie 

 of these birds to some friends, 

 who thought them pigeons. 

 It will also eat cherries and 

 walnuts like the rook, and 

 when the supply of insects has 



Crow. . . . 



failed, it will then turn its 

 attention to the duck-pond and farm-yard, and carry off a young 

 duckling or chicken. Sometimes he approaches the farm-house 

 by stealth, in the search of young chickens, which he is in the 

 habit of snatching off, when he can elude the vigilance of tl e 

 mother hen, who often proves too formidable for him. It also 

 carries off eggs, by pouncing upon them, and driving its bill 

 through the shell. It will be seen, from the following anecdote, 

 that mice and rats are not unaccustomed food. 



" In a field near a gentleman's house, about a mile from 

 Caernarvon, in Wales, there are some out-buildings much infested 

 with rats. Four or five traps are set on the premises every night, 

 and it is the business of a servant-man to go to the spot between 

 five and six in the morning. He is always punctually met by a 

 company of crows, that station themselves at a little distance, and 

 most narrowly watch all his proceedings. No sooner does he 



