CROWS. 503 



On this account the agricultural population are generally their 

 bitterest enemies, destroying them when opportunity offers. 

 In certain parts — Norway, for instance — laws were made order- 

 ing their extermination. But this policy was short-sighted: 

 if they did harm, they also did good, for the quantity of 

 noxious grubs and larvae formerly devoured by them, and con- 

 sequently kept in check, became most formidable foes to the 

 farmer, and most difficult to overcome. How is it that men 

 will not use their brains — that they actually destroy the animals 

 provided by a bounteous Creator, and whose utility is most con- 

 spicuous ? 



The flesh of the Raven and the Carrion Crow exhales a very 

 bad odour, doubtlessly caused by the quantities of putrid animal 

 matter they consume ; consequently, it is unfit for human food. 

 Not so, however, with the Rook. This bird, when taken young, 

 is not only eatable, but by some deemed a delicacy. 



Crows possess a vigorous and sustained flight ; they have a keen 

 sense of smell, and excellent vision. By exercising these latter 

 quaKties they become aware where food is to be obtained, and as 

 they wing their way towards it they constantly utter their cry, 

 as if inviting their companions to join them : this croak, as it is 

 called, is very harsh and dissonant. The plumage being of a 

 sombre funereal black, and the voice so unmusical, have doubtless 

 been the reasons why they have long been considered birds of 

 ill omen. When taken young, they are tamed with great facility, 

 even to permitting them to go at large, for they will neither 

 rejoin their own race nor desert the neighbourhood where they 

 have been kindly treated. True, they may go into the fields to seek 

 for food, but when the increasing shadows predict the approach 

 of night, their familiar resting-place in the house of their protector 

 will be sought. They become much attached to those who take 

 notice of them, and will recognise them even in a crowd. Their 

 audacity and their malice are incredible. When they take an 

 antipathy to any one, they immediately show it. They suffer 

 neither cats nor dogs to approach them, but harass them inces- 

 santly, tearing from them their very food. Finally, they choose 

 secret hiding-places, where they store up all that tempts their 

 cupidity or excites their covetousness. They even learn to repeat 



