L. F. Stockwell—Concerning Crows



31



sworn enemies of the big black Crow. Though no larger than Starlings,

they will rush out and attack him should he approach their nest, and

fight him with great bravery. The Big Horned Owl is also feared by

the Crows, for he picks them off their perch at night.


Crows roost together, coming from long distances, and flying home¬

ward across the evening sky. During the solar eclipse of 1898, they

assembled at their roosting place, and, putting their heads under their

wings, settled down for the night. But, great was their surprise when,

after a brief interval, the sun burst forth again.


A gentleman who saw a young Crow with half a beak, adopted

it as a pet. The bird lived with him for thirty years, and would sit

on his shoulder during meals, sharing scraps from his plate. When this

bird was given more than he could eat, he would fly off to the roof,

where there was a certain loose tile ; this he pushed aside with his claw,

dropped the food in, covered it again, and kept it safely hidden till

required.


One tame Crow caused some apprehension to a superstitious lady

who was going home ill. As she took her place at table in a Bombay

hotel, the black bird solemnly perched on the back of her chair. When

she moved, the bird followed and took up his position behind her like

some fowl of ill omen. The Crow was a tame one, whose owner had

recently sailed for home.


Among uneducated Indians, Crows enjoy a certain amount of respect,

for they are believed to be the spirits of the departed, and for this

reason fly in and out of human houses. In some cities, trays of food

and chatties of water are suspended in the trees for the Crows. Some

Indian funeral rites also enjoin that food shall be freshly cooked and

given to the Crows.


Crows build in separate trees, the Mango for choice. Their nest is

a rough, clumsy-looking structure, hollow in the centre, but neatly

lined with hair and coir. In towns where all rubbish is cleared away,

Crows are sometimes hard pressed to find building material. One pair

robbed an optician’s shop of 700 rupees’ worth of spectacle frames,

which they cleverly worked into a nest. More wonderful still was a nest

shown in the Bombay Natural History Museum composed of iron

wire—the refuse of railway fences. The birds must have worked hard

with beak and claw to bend it to shape and make quite a neat nest.



