The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1892-10-07
THE TALE OF A PET CROW.
Hh MADE HIMsBLF USEFUL ABOUT
THE FARM.
His Conversational Abilities werc
Truly Marvellous - His Strange
Birth and Pathetic Death.

bfrtn ana FatnettC Deatn.
<(VX|HEN was living at the
VA foot Of Pinxster Peak /
v v had tame crow that
was worth considerable
to me-" said n Loyalsock man to the
Scranton (Penn.) correspondent OF the
New York Sun. "The way camo to
get the crow was littlc singular. One
Of my boys was flying his kite early in
the summer, aud when it had sale high
up over piece OF woods on my place
tho string broke aud tho kito lodged in
the top Of hemlook treo. Tho boy
bswled about the loss Of his kite, aud
bad to climb the tree and got it for him.
f-6 crow. .f11w-off -hcr nose Lnear-the top-of,
the tree while was climbing up, aud
when reached tho nest found one egg
in It. After had unloosenod tho kite
aud let it drop, placed the crows egg
in my mouth and kept 1t there till 1
had backed down the tree, and then
ran to the barn and put tho egg under a
hen that had been sitting for day or
so. The old hen offered no objections,
aud several days before she came off with
her chickens she hatchcd out tho livcliest
little crow ever saw. Wo began to
raise the baby crow III the house; whcn
he was big enough to run around ON tn,
floor named him Kite.
"He learned to say good many
words by the time he was a year old,
and one morning that summer heard
him yelling down an unused chimney at
| lot Of swallows that were nesting in it.
The swallows were making a great
racket, and Kite was singing out, 'Iold
your tonguep as loud as he could YELL
The crow had heard that command in
tho family, aud he used it on tho swal-
lows because their noise annoyed him.
At first the swallows paid no attention
to the crow, and Kite yelled, stop your
cussed noisel Stop your cussed noise'
till the swallows twittered all tho harder.
Then Kite dived down the chimney, and
the swallows poured out in stream aud
circled around it, squalling violently at
the crow when he few up and perched
himself on the top Of tho chimney.
called him away, and the swallows soon
quieted down. When they came home
at night the crow sat on the edge of tho
chimney aud yelled. 'Clear out I at them
| for half an hour, aud he made it so uu-
pleasant for them inside OF fortnight
that they deserted the chimney.
"When Kite was two years old pair
Of eagles nested In an inaccessible cliff
on the side of Pinxster Peak. had
forty young lambs in a pasture, aud on a
nice May morning one of the cagleL
sHRapsa down. caught day old lamb in
back aud yelled: 'Putthe lamb down.
Drop the lamb, cuss your and lot Of
other spiteful orders. had run out
with shot gun, but Kite hung to the
eagles back, and l was ofraid to shoot
for fear of killing the crow. Kite yelled
aud clawed at the eagle till he made il
drop the lamb, and then ho peckel at
the eagles head till the big bird shook
him off away toward the cliff. Tho lamb
was killed by the fall, aad the crow flew
back, settled down by the lamb, and was
saying: TOO bad Too badv when
reached tho spot. When l picked up
the lamb heard Kite say: I'll Kill! that
eagle some time The useful crow took
it upon himself to protect the lambs
from the eagles, aud all day long he flew
from one part OF the pasture to another,
perched on trees and fences, and kept au
eye out for the vcracious birds. When
ever he saw au eagle soaring in the sk5
he would fly to where / was working,
sing out: John, look out for tho eagle /
land then sail back to the pasture and
! watch over the lambs. He would cav
| like everything as long as the eagle was
| in sight, aud when It disappeared he
would sit in silence on limb or stake
and gaze into the sky. The presence of
the crow kept off the eagles, aud didn't
lose another lamb.
"In the fall had n SOW and litter OF
young pigs running iu the roal. One
afternoon one of the eagles plunged aud
caught pig just as the crow had slight'
ed on post near the mud puddle where
the pigs were wallowing. The eagle
struck into the pig so hard that it drove
the little fellow into the mud. and while
the bird was trying to claw it out, Kite
yelled, John, come and shoot the eagle.
was in little siop near by, and wher
ran out the crow was pecking at tn,
eagles head and the old SOW was doing
her best to push of the eagle. Th'
other pigs were sguealing aud running
about in the puddle, and Kite was yell
ing, Get off get off get Off at the
top of his voice, and beating the eagle
over the head with his wings. The ole
SOW was snorting and grunting and
striking at the eagle as though her life
was at stake; the little pig was strug
Cling and squealing in the mud, and
when got to the noisy crowd the eagle
tumbled over on its side and began tc
strike viciously at the crow and the SOW
with its bill. Kite flew around and
yelled, John, ring ITS neckp and when
caught the eagle by one of its wing
and flung it into the road saw that 4
was gasping and dying. A pointe;
! wire that / had put on the sow's nose tt
keep her from roofing had pierce tho
eagles lungs, and the big bird died in q
minute or two. Kite alighted on tn
eagle as soon as he saw 1t was life!e5e
tapped his wings, and sang out, 'Joh,
we got him this time
"Kite could tell the time of day b.
the clock, aud when tho weather wa
cloudy used to send him to the house
from the field to see what time it was
Instead OF asking my wife the croA