The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1882-08-09
THE CROW.

In the common crow all the evil pro-
pensities of his race, which includes
ravens, rocks, jackdaws, carrion crows,
magpies, blackbirds and blue jay, seem
united and augmented. No bird has SO
nearly found his natural enemy in man,
yet excepting when surprised he is gen.
orally quite able to care for himself.
Constant persecution here has destroyed
his faith in man, and has made him ex-
ceedingly cunning in detecting destruc-
tive contrivances. He has learned the
science of war, and always keeps sem
tinel upon the watch, who never leaves
his post or tree-top unless relieved, and
who is the first to give the alarm and
the last to retire He knows by intui-
ton whether his prowling pursuer is
the amiable small boy with harmless
shotgun, or the reyengeful farmer with
deadly rifle. When two corn-planters,
to deceive him, enter a cover and then
one retires, he knows full well that the
man with the gun remains behind in
tent upon his scalp. Although he shud-
ders at the sight of dead comrade, ig-
ANONYMOUSLY hung by the heels in the
fields, he soon learns to sneer at strings,
to wink at flashing scraps of tin, and has
been known to perch upon the best
dressed scarecrow and fout him to his
very face. Yet he is weak through his
vices, and, like his human enemy, often
falls victim to his fondness for whisky;
q quart of that delectable fluid absorbed
by peck of corn and carefully con-
cealed in the field will cause abundant
merriment to the experimenters. Even
his virtues contribute to his destruction,
for his clannishness and conjugal
love forbid him to desert his
friends or partners in distress. The
writer hereof while secluded in the
depth of the forest has often arrested
them in their fight overhead by an imi-
tation of their well-known cry. And,
as they, would remain circling over the
tree-tops answering the call, they fell
an easy prey to the breech-loader. But
are not these depraved or misguided be-
ings who so relentlessly, by force, trick
and device, pursue our sable friend,
plainly flying in the face of natureP His
only offense is that he pulls up and eats
the sprouting corn. A simple and eff
fectual remedy for this annoyance is to
mix in a vessel some tar, oil and a small
quantity of slaked lime in powder. The
seed corn is then stirred in until each
grain receives thorough coating. This
preparation, being somewhat impervious
to moisture, will retard termination
about three days, but it saves the crop.
The crows, after pulling up enough in
various places to satisfy themselves that
it is unpalatable throughout, will leave
it forever in disgust. Don't kill them.
Are not the unlovable characteristics of
the crow, and the black mark of Cain
upon him, unmistakable proofs that he
should be left unmolested to fulfill his
intended mission of keeping down the
army of mice, moles, snaiIs, slugs,
snakes, Lizards, grubs. worms, beetles
and the like, which, but for him, would
overshadow the land and destroy us al
together? With song like mule; a
strut like petty boss; too big for pet;
useless for sport; unsavory for food;
with forked tongue, uncanny speech,
dusky wing and sulphurous smell; with
evil eye and chilling croak-he is plainly
enough marked as an outcast. Then
let the scavenger alone; he may save us
from a pestilence.
Occasionally attempts have been made
to civilize him, but his bad moral nature
seems to develop with culture. He is
harder to take care of than two-year-
old baby, and is as treacherous as a
tame Indian. Cunning as a fox, mis-
chievous as a monkey, he is withal q
OOAh 1AC 1dCCOOh - 41OuCSIl
itself by the side of him. He steals for
the love of it, and will make away with
anything that is not tied down, no mat
ter how useless it may be to him. A
younger brother of ours once had
tame crow for some months about the
house, and he managed to keep the
neighborhood in an uproar the whole
time One would conclude that Captain
Kidd had buried his treasures in our
garden by the way it was dug over by
irate losers of scissors, thimbles, knives,
spoons and the like which Richard, for
that was his name, had purloined from
open doors and unguarded windows.
To do the bird Justice l believe he was
innocent of half the crimes charged
against him, but he had a bad reputa-
ton, and, like many another, had to
suffer for it. Once he was seen to steal
a small coin, and, by the extra pains he
took in hiding it, one would imagine he
knew its value. After his plunder was
concealed he perched upon the fence
and tried to act as if he had done no
wrong, but the kleptomaniac kept one
eye upon his treasure all the same, and
grew into a furious rage when his
loot was taken from him. He was
worse than pet dog to betray your
crowd of boys around as the outside of a
circus tent. Yet with all his faults he
was, as Artemus Ward says of the
kangaroo, "an amoosin' cuss." He
would very plainly say 'tUncle Wall,
and would jabber lot of other stuff
that you could almost understand. He
visited every bedside he could reach in
the morning and reused in friendly
way the sleepers He made friends
with butcher with whom he regularly
brealfasted, and received many a tid-bit
from admiring neighbors when making
his social calls. He was not, however,
particularly dainty about his victuals; it
was all as one to him whether it was
porter-house steak or paper of tacks.
He could swallow anything smaller than
he was without tasting it, for he was as
thin, as hollow and as tough as rubber
overshoe. But, bless you, the crow s
chief value lies in his omniverous tastes
and his Unsuitable NAV; and you might
as well try to satisfy him with food as
tofatten thrashing- machine by running
grain through it. And so he did his
level best to keep the vicinity poor.
Luckily, before the impending famine
came upon US, we noticed that the in
side of his mouth was growing white
fatal sign-and soon with a sigh OF
relief and a kindly remembrance of his
cunning ways we buried him among his
hidden treasures.
Ny brother made three or four more
attempts to keep another, but sooner or
later the white mouth-perhaps the
diphtheria-carTied them of. Every
one knows of their cunning, intelligent