The record-union., 1894-06-11
TOO MUCH FOR A CROW.
The Bird was Suspicious of a Bone
Swinging in the Wind.


Swinging in the Wind.
The crow has fine manners. He always
has the walk and air of lord of the soil.
One morning put out some fresh meat
upon the snow near my study window
Presently g crow came and carried it Oh,
and alighted with it upon the ground in
the vineyard. While he was eating of it,
another crow came, and, alighting few
yards away, slowly walked up to within
few feet of his fellow, and stopped. l
expected to see a struggle over the food,
as would have been the case with domes-
tic fowls or animals. Nothing of the kind.
The feeding crow stopped eating, re-
garded the other for moment, made q
gesture or two, and flew away. Then the
second crow went UP to the food, and
proceeded TO take his share. Presently
the first crow came back, when each
seized a portion of the food and flew away
with it. Their mutual respect and good
vii, seemed perfect Whether il really
was so in our human sense, or whether it
Was simply all illustration OF the instinct
of mutual support which seems 10 pre-
vail among gregarious birds, know not
Birds that are solitary in their habits.
like hawks aud woodpeckers, behave
quite differently toward one another III
the presence OF their food.
This lives of wild creatures revolve
fear. Their keenness i'll discovering food
and in discovering danger are alike re-
lnarkable. But man can nearly always
outwit them, because, while his percep-
tiOns are not so sharp, his power of re-
Election is much greater. His cunning
carries q great deal further. The crow
vii! quickly discover anything that looks
like Il trap or snare set TO catch him, but
it takes him a long time 10 see through
SiD " X-a, | h.rI-
above stated, | sometimes place meat on
the SNOW in front OF my study window 10
attract him.
on one occasion. after a couple of crows
had come to expect something there daily,
l suspended q piece of meat by string
from a branch of the tree just over the
spot where | usually placed the food. A
crow soon discovered it and came into the
tree TO see what it meant. His suspicious
were aroused. There was some design in
that suspended meat evidently. 1t was Il
trap to catch him. He surveyed it from
every near branch. lie peclled and pried,
and was bent OH penetrating the mystery.
He flew to the ground and walked about
and surveyed II from all sides. Then he
took long walk down about the vine-
yard as if in hope Of hitting upon some
cleW. Then he came 10 the tree again,
and tried first one eye, then the other,
upon it; then to the ground beneath; then
he went away and came back; then his
fellow came, and they both squinted and
Investigated aud then disappeared.
Chick adees and woodpeckers would
alight upon tho meat and peck it swing
ing in the wind, but the crows were fear
ful. Does this show reflection? Perhaps
1t does, but look upon it rather as that
instinct OF fear and cunning so charac-
teristic OF the crow.
Two days passed thus; every morning
the crows came and surveyed the sus-
pended meat from all points in the tree,
and then went away. The third day
placed large bone on the snow beneath
the suspended morsel. Presently one of
the crows appeared in the tree and bent
his eye upon the tempting bone. The
mystery deepens," be seemed to say
TO himself But after half an hours
investigation and after approaching sew
eral times whiting Il few feet OF the food
upon the ground, he seemed to conclude
that there was no connection between it
and the piece hanging by the string. So
he finally walked up To it and fell to
pecking it. Tapping his wings all the
| time as a sign of his watchfulness. He
also turned up his eye momentarily to
the piece in the air above, as If it might
be sword Of Damocles, ready to fall
upon him.
Soon his mate came and alighted on a
! low branch OF the tree. The feeding crow
regarded him moment and then flew up
to his side, as if TO give him a turn at the
meat. But he refused to run the risk.
He evidently looked upon the whole
thing as a delusion and snare, and pres
emily went away, and his mate followed
him. Then | placed the bone in one OF
the main forks OF the tree, but the crows
kept at safe distance from it. Then |
put it back on the ground, but they grew
moro and more suspicious; some evil in
tent in it ali, they thought. Finally, a
dog carried off the bone. and the crows
ceased to visit the tree ohm Burroughs
''Fie1d Notes." in the Century.