The Grow 
307 
I have of the fact that they are near him is seeing a Crow fly swiftly and 
llnoiselessly away among the tree-tops. 
I For hundreds of years farmers have regarded the Crow as one of 
their most annoying enemies. This is chiefly because the Crows dearly 
ikove to pull up corn shortly after it has sprouted. They do this to get the 
:| grain of seed-corn, which has become softened by contact with the soft 
Ij earth. Then, too, as the grain begins to germinate, the starch it con- 
tains turns to sugar, and thus there is made a dainty 
I tidbit which is quite to the liking of a hungry Crow. His Foes 
Very naturally, therefore, the farmer seeks to rid the 
neighborhood of these black- feathered visitors. Time and again he takes 
his gun and sallies forth ; but no sooner does he enter the field where the 
birds are feeding than an old Crow, which has established himself as a 
sentinel on some tree or fence-stake, gives a warning “cauf’ that all of his 
friends understand, and in a moment the entire flock takes flight to the 
nearest woods, where they calmly await the departure of their disturber. 
Now and then the farmer or his boy, by hiding among the trees or 
along a fence, succeeds in shooting a Crow. When this is accomplished, 
the bird’s body is often tied to a pole, which is then set up in the field 
as a warning to the bird’s fellows of the fate that awaits them if they 
persist in returning. A chorus of jeering caws is 
often the only answer the farmer gets for his trouble. Smartness 
for let no one ever forget that the Crow is about the 
smartest bird of which we have any knowledge. If he were not a bird 
A CROW BROODING UPON ITS NEST 
