WAYS OF NATURE 



the usual high-keyed note of alarm. It may have 

 meant " Look out ! " yet it seemed to me Uke the ask- 

 ing of alms: " Here we are, three hungry neighbors 

 of yours ; give us food." So I brought out the en- 

 trails and legs of a chicken, and placed them upon 

 the snow. The crows very soon discovered what I 

 had done, and with the usual suspicious movement 

 of the closed wings which has the effect of emphasiz- 

 ing the birds' alertness, approached and devoured the 

 food or carried it away. But there was not the least 

 strife or dispute among them over the food. Indeed, 

 each seemed ready to give precedence to the others. 

 In fact, the crow is a courtly, fine-mannered bird. 

 Birds of prey will rend one another over their food; 

 even buzzards will make some show of mauhng one 

 another with their wings; but I have yet to see any- 

 thing of the kind with that gentle freebooter, the 

 crow. Yet suspicion is his dominant trait. Anything 

 that looks like design puts him on his guard. The 

 simplest device in a cornfield usually sufllces to 

 keep him away. He suspects a trap. His wit is not 

 deep, but it is quick, and ever on the alert. 



One of our natural history romancers makes the 

 crows flock in June. But the truth is, they do not 

 flock till September. Through the summer the dif- 

 ferent families keep pretty well together. You may 

 see the old ones with their young foraging about 

 the fields, the young often being fed by their par- 

 ents. 



266 



