24 
sued on the ground, but of short duration. 
At this crisis we approached, and found 
that a weasel had seized a Crow by the 
neck, and had killed it." 
The above anecdote proves that the 
Crow is not deficient in courage. It is 
also well known, that it will suffer neither 
the Kite, Buzzard, nor Raven to approach 
its nest with impunity. 
It is supposed that there are more birds 
of this species bred in England, than in 
any other country of Europe. In the 
reign of Henry the 8th, Crows had become 
so numerous, and were thought to be so 
prejudicial to the farmer, that (according 
to Pennant) "they were considered an 
evil worthy parliamentary redress: an act 
was passed for their destruction, in which 
Rooks and Choughs were included. Every 
hamlet was to provide nets for ten years; 
and all the inhabitants were obliged at 
certain times to assemble during that 
space, to consult of the best means to ex- 
tirpate them." 
They are also very numerous in some 
parts of North America, and are said to be 
