Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1891-12-18

its course with mathematical precision,
steps aside to let it pass, and resumes
his old perch, yawning.
Crows are intensely clannish. Ifyou
are consumed with a morbid curiosity
to ascertain how many reside within a
radius of five miles round your bunga-
low; or if you conceive philanthropic
wish to relieve your ncighbors of their
share of the crow population, it is very
easy. once you have caught a member
of the race. That, l admit, is difficult.
But, assuming that you have succeeded.
all you need do is tie n red rag to his
leg and let him go. In three minutes
all the crows in the district have heard
of the outrage, and the air over your
compound is darkened by thousands OF
angrily protesting birds-all crows.
Other feathered creatures ignore the
carryings-on of this disreputable fami-
ly. 1t is an Indignation meeting, called
to condemn you; and the crows, flying
just out of gunshot, hurl down unani-
nous and deafening votes of censure
with all the power of their lungs. IL
you appear outside for a moment the
uproar becomes positively bewildering.
All you can do is to remain quiet in
doors and wait. Presently there is a
lull; this denotes that committee has
been appointed to examine your vic
tira, and that the business is in prog
ress on the top of high tree. 1t is a
crow supreme court of judicature, and
only two methods of procedure are
known to tiff the rag can be pecked
off the committee crows remove it; il
it can't they lose their temper swear
that the rag-adorned crow has himself
to blame for his misfortune, and kill
him out of hand This done, the meet
ing, which has lowered in waiting.
bursts forth in votes of still more vo-
ciferous censure and breaks up. Then
you venture forth, feeling like a man
who has passed through an Indian
thunderstorm and an earthquake
rolled into one.
| have already mentioned the crows
taste for young birds; and there is in
this nothing very remarkable. A ha,f-
fledged sparrow is tender and succu-
lent morsel no carnivorous bird need
despise But what, in the name of
gastronomy, is there to rec ommend the
scorpion as an article of diet, even to
the depraved appetite of crow? And
yet his fondness for this ugly reptile
a dozen crows standing silently in a
circle on the road, you may be sure
there is scorpion in the middle, lash
ing out on all sides with that danger
Gus curved spur which forms the ex-
tremity of his tail. Stand still and
watch the one-sided strife. One crow
takes his place in front of the reptile,
to engage his attentions; the rest hop
round, seizing every opportunity OF
giving the ever-moving tail a vicious
dig. The scorpion is scaly AMI tough
and surprisingly active, SO it takes
some time to disarm him; but his
strokes grow fainter and fewer, and
the crows digs harder and more fire.
quent. At last a well-aimed peck
strikes home between the overlapping
armor. and the tail is severed It's all
over; as the spur and its underly ing
sac of poison fall off, every beak closes
on some portion of the scorpions anat-
omy, and tug of war ensues, "all
against ALL" it is torn to pieces and
swallowed on the spot
| saw, early one morning, a very
curious contest between a number OF
crows and bandicoot rat The rat
had obviously been out all night, and
was making his way home along a shall
low open drain, when the crows caught
sight of him. He was sorry speci-
men of his kind, NANCY and decrepit,
SO the crows went for him." A ban
dicoot's teeth are long and sharp, and
the birds were not inclined to come to
close quarters in the open; they formed
up in single file on either edge of the
drain, and escorted the now hurrying
rat till he reached his hole. Then they
began operations; the instant the ban
dicoot's head disappeared they fell
upon him pellmell, and drove their iron
bills into every tender spot they could
reach, while one of the flock held on to
his tail, seemingly bent on dragging
the owner out. Whether the strain on
his caudal appendage overcame him, or
whether prompted by motives of ven-
geance, l cannot say, but after n few
seconds struggle, the bandicoot backed
out and snapped fiercely at his foes,
who retreated a step or two and waited.
The crow at his tail was the first to re-
tire; and giving it defiant waggle, to
make sure it was free, the rat made
another rush for his burrow. The very
moment his head was out of sight, a
crow pounced upon his tail again, and
the others resumed the attack, draw
ing blood at every peck. | began to
understand the modus operandi, and
grew interested; the crows plan of ac-
ton, in detail, was to assault only when
the rat could not bite back and the
general idea to worry him until he sue
cumbod to exhaustion and weakness
1t took the birds just twelve minutes
to achieve victory; the bandicoot
grew weary, and resently the crows
confined tn ems elves to simply dragging
him out whenever he got halfway into
his hole. As soon as it appeared safe,
they pounccd upon him en- masse,
pecked out his eyes, and literally
stabbed him to death. Then, in half
the time it had taken to kill him, they
ate him and flew away happy.
People who don't know the crow
may find difficulty in believing the
following anecdote, though Anglo
Indians will accept it without hesita-
tion. A dog of my acquaintance-a
fox terrier of long eastern experience
was one morning eating a chicken
bone on the veranda, when two crows
happened to pass, and, observing the
dog and his bone, wheeled down and
alightcd on the veranda railing,
whence they set to work croaking to
induce him to drop his breakfast.
Under ordinary circumstances, an
English dog will fly at q crow the
moment he. appears; but on this oc-
casion jack simply looked up,