The Abilene reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1884-09-11
The Cruel Crow.

The Australian crow must not be
! likened to the stately rock of Great
! Britain, for they want the majestic
strut, and altogether lack the rich bass
''caw" of the British crow. Moreover,
/! they live chiefly on carrion, but are
both cunning and cruel enough to
watch for and MAIN and kill weak or
distressed animals that are unable to
escape ordefeni themselves from them.
They have been holding high holiday
during the late drought, and have been
the direct cause of the death of thou
sands of sheep and cattle that were
weakened by the famine, and but for
their cOwardly assaults might have sur
vived. l have often seen these hateful
birds attacking cattle and sheef; that
bad got begged or become too weak to
rise from the spot where they had lain
down to rest. They first usually make
an attempt to peck out the eyes, and
when their victims endeavor to avoid
their beaks in that direction other parts
are assailed. Often have 1 found a
weak sheep with both ears bleeding and
partly eaten Of; but more frequently
have [ seen one or both eyes destroyed
and the sheep still alive. In such lat
ter instances have invariably pitied
the injured creatures. One day during
the continuance of the drought noticed
among other begged sheep one stuck
fast whose appearance appalled, me.
1t was a eve that would shortly have
LANDED, and had been attacked bv the
merciless crows, which (horrible to
telD had disembowled the vet living
mother, exposing the limb of an unborn
lamb. OF course l had no choice but
to destroy the mother and leave it to
the malignant crows. The lambing
season has begun here, but the irving
period we have passed through has left
the surviving ewes so weak as to en-
danger their lives unless the lambs are
destroyed. Thus it will be seen how
adverse are the times to fiockmasterS
in this region. In the destructive pro-
cess toward the lambs the crows are in
any season active agents, but when the
mothers are strong and well they can
Oiler their young some defense. In
such a season as this the helpless lambs
become an easy prey of the pitiless
crows, which wait upon the ewes in the
moment of their extremity, andcruelly
pick out the eyes of the lambs ere
they have hardly been brought to the
birth; and yet there are to be found
some writers who put in plea for the
crows on the ground that they are in
sect-eaterS, and live also on putrid car
casses. So long as they can get live
chickens, ducklingS, or can find living
sheep or cattle that are unable to de-
fend themselves from their cruel beaks
they will avoid putrid meat. Since the
gladstone rain has fallen these malevO-
lent birds are not so dainty as to their
food, for the stock being able to get
water everywhere, and in safe places
the former dangerous spots are avoided,
and hence there is no begging to IA
vor their relentless foes. These would
therefore have to 90 without food if
they did not now fall back on those
carcasses that fell during the drought,
or on other putrefactions. While it
may be admitted that they do pick up
grain and insects, and may be useful
in the world in maintaining to some ex-
tent the balance of nature, my knOwl-
edge of them has led me to give them
a very bad character-one full of cum
ming and cruelty.-GlasgO'0 Herald.