Crow - Ways. 1 03 



furnishes an occasion for an assembly. A wounded 

 bird will create as much stir in a flock of crows as a 

 railroad accident does in a village. But when some 

 prowling old crow discovers an owl sleeping away the 

 sunlight in the top of a great hemlock, his delight and 

 excitement know no bounds. There is a suppressed 

 frenzy in his very call that every crow in the neigh- 

 borhood understands. Conic / covic / everybody come ! 

 he seems to be screaming as he circles over the tree- 

 top; and within two minutes there are more crows 

 gathered about that old hemlock than one would 

 believe existed within miles of the place. I counted 

 over seventy one day, immediately about a tree in 

 which one of them had found an owl; and I think 

 there must have been as many more flying about 

 the outskirts that I could not count. 



At such times one can approach very near with a 

 little caution, and attend, as it were, a crow caucus. 

 Though I have attended a great many, I have never 

 been able to find any real cause for the excitement. 

 Those nearest the owl sit about in the trees cawino; 

 vociferously ; not a crow is silent. Those on the 

 outskirts are flying rapidly about and making, if pos- 

 sible, more noise than the inner ring. The owl mean- 

 while sits blinking and staring, out of sight in the 

 green top. Every moment two or three crows leave 

 the ring to fly up close and peep in, and then go 



