The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1874-04-25

The following from Chambers Journal is
not fiction. The crows of India, which in
numbers are like grasshoppers, especially in
the cities, do not hesitate to enter the houses
and carry off whatever they can lay hands or
beak on. While we were in Calcutta the
crows came into our room at the hotel, in the
very center of the city, and seized our break
fast before our eyes, while we were waiting
to cat it. ". Y. Observer.
Pet Crows.
1t was my lot once upon time to be down
with a fever in India. The room in which
lay was the upper fat of an Anticipated build
ing, in "a rather lonely part of the suburbs Of
the town. 1t had three windows close TO
which grew a large banysn tree, beneath the
shade of whose branches the crew of line
ofbattle ship might have hung their ham
mocks with comfort. The tree was inhabited
| by colony of crows; we stoOd-the crows
and lin the relation Of over-the.way to each
other. Now, of all birds that fly, the Indian
crow must bear the palm for audacity. Liv
! ing by his wits, he is always on the best terms
with himself and his impudence leads him
to dare anything. Whenever, by chance
PandOo, my attendant left the room, these
black gentry paid me visit. Hopping in by
| the score, and, regarding me no more than the
| bed post, they commenced minute inspection
Of everything in the room, trying to destroy
everything that could not be eaten or carried
away They rent the towels, drilled holes in
my Uniform, stole the buttons from my coat
and smashed my bottles, One used to sit on
a screen close to my bed every day, and scan
my face with his evil eye, saying, as plainly
as could be, You are getting thinner and
beautifully less; in day or two you won't be
able to lift a hand; then will have the pleas.
ure of picking out your two eyes"
| Amid such doings my servant would gen
orally come to my relief, perhaps TO find such
a scene as this: Two or three hostile crows,
with their feathers standing up around their
necks, engaged IN a deadly combat on the
| floor over silver spoon or toothbrush; half
u dozen perched upon every available
chair; an unfortunate lizard, with crow at
each end Of it, getting whirled wildly around
! the room, each crow thinking he had the best
| right to 1t; crows everywhere, hopping about
on the table and drinking from the bath
crows perchcd on the window.sill and more
crows about to come and each crow doing
all in his power to make the greatest possible
noise The faithful PanGoo would take all
this in at glance; then would ensue a hel-
|
| by the black wings of the flying crows, then
silence for a moment only broken by some
| apolegetic remark from Pandoo.
When at length happy days of GONZALES
cGnce came around, and | was able to get up,
and even cat my meals at the table, found
my friends, the crows, little more civil and
respectful. The thought occurred to me to
make friends with them; consequently be-
gan regular system Of feeding them after
every meal One old crow l caught, and
chained 10 q chair with fiddle-string. He
was funny old fellow with one club foot.
He never refused his food from the very day
of his captivity, and l soon taught him a few
tricks. One was to lie on his back, when so
placed, for any length of time. till set on his
legs again. This was called turning the tur.
tie But one day this bird of freedom hoped
away, fiddle. string and all, and whole fort
night elapsed before | saw him again. l was
Just beginning to put faith in belief com.
mon in Indla-namely, that a crow, or any
other bird that has been for any time living
with human beings, is put to instant death
the moment he returns to the bosom of his
family; when, one day, while engaged break
fasting some forty crows, my Club-tOoted pet
reappcared, and actually picked the bit from
my hand, and ever after, until left, he came
regularly thrice o day to be fed. The other
crows came with surprising eXactncSs at meal
time; first one would alight on the shutter
outside the window, and peep in as if to as
certain how nearly done | happened TO be-
then fly away for five or ten minutes, when he
would return, and have another peep. AS
soon, however, Us | approached the window,
and raised my arm, l was saluted with a
chorus of cawing from the banyan tree; then
down they swOoped in dozens; and it was no
easy task to fill so many mouths although the
loavcs were government ones
These pets had a deadly enemy in a brown
raven-the bramla kite; swifter than IN ar.
row from bow he descended, describing the
arc of great circle and carrying OFT in his
flight the largest lump of bread he could spy
lie, for one, never stopped to bless the hand
of the giver; but the crows, know were not
unsraeful. Ciub-toot used to perch beside
me on char, and pick his morsels from the
floor, always promising that two windows at
least must be left open. AS TO the others
their prosecutions ended they never appear
ed except when called upon. The last act of
their aggression was TO devour a very fine
specimen of u praying mantis had confined
in Quinine bottle The first day the paper
cover had been torn off, and the mantis had
only escaped by keeping close to the bottom
next day, the cover was again broken and the
bottle itself capsized; the poor mantis had
prayed in vain for once. Clubfoot, think,
must have stopped all day in the banyan
tree for | never went TO the window 10 cali
him without his appearing at once with
joyful cav; this feat used often 10 exhibit
TO my shipmates who used to visit me during
my illness.
4 STRANGE DIsRAsE-Intense radiation of
heat in the great desert of Sahara produces
extraordinary effects on insects, AS well as
animals and men. When caravan starts
out to traverse that wide desolation, flies fol-
low on in prodigious multitures, attracted,
no doubt, by odor from the animals, but they