A CURIOUS TRAIT 197 
little, the cockatoo flew off; then there was a tremendous 
uproar among the crows, which, with one accord, gave 
chase. The clamour continued for some time, but I 
did not again see the cockatoo. The poor bird must 
eventually have been torn to pieces by the crows, 
unless he was rescued by his owner. Probably not one 
of those crows had previously set eyes on a cockatoo. 
They therefore could not have had any scores to pay 
off. They merely mobbed him because he was a 
strange, bizarre, living object, and their instinct teaches 
them to regard all such creatures as their enemies. 
In Oudh, last cold weather, I put up a large owl out 
of a mango-tree. It was in the middle of the day and 
the crows were about. Two of them caught sight of 
the owl during his short flight to the next tree, and at 
once proceeded to mob him. They took up a position 
on each side of him, sitting as close to him as possible, 
so that he was literally wedged in between them. 
Neither crow, however, seemed inclined to commence 
the attack. 
In a campaign of this kind, the words “ masterly 
inactivity” may be said to sum up corvine tactics. 
The owl was not enjoying himself, for, in addition to 
having a “ribald crow” on each side of him, I was 
looking at him from below. He therefore took to 
flight. The crows gave chase, taking pecks at his back. 
I could not follow the rest of the hunt, since, as organs 
of progression, legs are no match for wings. Presently, 
however, the two crows returned to the Bagh and, 
judging by their cries of exultation, one at least of 
them must have secured a beakful of owl’s feathers ! 
