146 
THE CROWS AND THE HERON. 
fill the sky ; a murmur of mighty wings is heai'd ; and immediately 
all is still. Who comes here ? Who but the king of the air, — the 
majestic eagle ; and see how stately he sails to and fro above the 
terrified community ! Let us leave him to exact the tribute which in 
this world the weak are too often compelled to pay to the strong. 
The carrion crow is a great enemy of the heron ; and Thomas 
Edward, the Scottish naturalist, relates with much liveliness an 
episode illustrative of this animosity of which he was himself a 
witness : — 
One summer day, while loitering about the sea-side hills, he saw a 
heron flying heavily along, pursued by a carrion crow, and followed at 
some distance by a couple of magpies. Soon afterwards, the pursuit 
was taken up by two hooded crows. By this time the heron had 
reached an open space between two woods, and it seemed as if his 
adversaries intended to keep him there until he had satisfied their 
demands. So long as the affray lasted, or nearly half an hour, they 
would not suffer him to proceed above a few yards in any direction, 
and forced him into ascending and descending alternately, in order to 
elude the attacks levelled at him. Most skilfully conducted was the 
entire manoeuvring of the crows with the heron. Each seemed 
thoroughly to understand his position, and the one never interfered 
with the other's point of attack. Rising higher than the heron, one 
shot down upon him like a dart, aiming generally at his head ; another 
at the same time pecked at him sideways and in front ; the third made 
his attack from beneath and in the rear. The last-mentioned seized 
hold of the bewildered bird's feet, which were stretched out at full 
length backwards, with the result each time of turning him over; 
a result welcomed by a general outburst of exultation " among the 
three black rogues," as evidenced by their louder cawings and 
whimsical gesticulations, — "no doubt laughing (if crows can laugh) 
at seeing their opponent turning topsy-turvy in the air." 
During one of his somersaults the heron disgorged something, but, 
unfortunately for him, none of the crows observed it. When it fell to 
the ground, the magpies seized and devoured it. Not relieved by what 
