JIM’S BABIES 
You slay them all ! .And wherefore ? For the gain 
Of a scant handful more or less of wheat, 
Or rye, or barley, or soneC other grain, 
Scratched up at random by industrious feet. 
Searching for worm or weevil after rain ! 
Longfellow. 
R. ERNEST SETON-THOMP- 
_ T 1. 3TAag every wild creature 
this seems to 
be particuKirly true of crows. They are the 
Ishmaels of the feathered kingdom, with 
every man’s hand against them. The law 
vv hich protects other birds offers a bounty 
for their heads. The farmers hate them ; the 
small boy considers them legitimate prey, and 
pockets the price on their heads with the 
satisfaction of well-doing. I confess to a 
grudge against them myself for the many 
nests of song-birds they have robbed within 
my own precln.cts. It is disappointing to 
watch a brood day by day until the young 
77 
