Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1894-07-11
TOO MUCH FOR A CROW,
The Bird Was Suspicious of Piece Of Meat
Swinging In the Wind.

Swinging In the Wind.
The crow has fine manners He always
has the walk and air of a lord of the soil
One morning put out some fresh meat
upon the snow near my study window.
Presently crow came and carried it off
| 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. ex-
pected to sec a struggle over the food, as
| would have been the case with domestic
/ fowls or animals. Nothing of the kind.
| The feeding crow stopped eating, regarded
| the other for moment, made a 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 mu.
tual respect and good win seemed perfect.
| Whether it really was SO in our human
| sense or whether it was simply an illus
| tration of the instinct Of mutual support
| which seems to prevail among gregarious
birds know not. Birds that are solitary
| in their habits, like hawks or woodpeck-
| ers, behave quite differently toward one
| another in the presence of their food.
The lives of wild creatures reyolye about
| two facts or emotions, appetite and fear.
| Their keenness in discovering food and
| danger is remarkable. But man can nearly
| always Outwit them, because while his per-
| ceptions arc not SO sharp his power of re-
| Fiction is much greater. His cunning car
| ries a great deal further The crow viii
| quickly discover anything that looks like
| q trap or snare set to catch him, but it
| takes him q long time to see through the
| simplest contrivance. As | have above
stated / sometimes place meat on the snow
| in front of my study window to attract
| him.
| On one occasion, after a couple of crows
| had come to expect something there daily,
| l suspended a piece of meat by string
| from branch of the tree just over the
spot where l 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
trap to catch him. He surveyed it from
| every near branch. He peeked and pried
| ard was bent on penetrating the mystery.
| He flew to the ground and walked about
and surveyed it from all sides. Then be
took long walk down about the vineyard,
|
| then he came to 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 investi-
| gated and then disappeared. Chickadces
and woodpeckers would alight upon the
meat and peck it swinging in the wind, but
the crows were fearful. Does this show
| rpfipctinnS hut I
upon it rather as that instinct of fear and
cunning so characteristic of the crow.
| Two days passed thus. Every morning
the crows came and surveyed the suspend
ed meat from all points in the tree and
then went away. The third day placed
| large bone on the snow beneath the sus-
| pended morscl. Presently one of the crows
| appeared in the tree and bent his eye upon
the tempting bone. The mystery deep,
| ems, he seemed to say to himself But
after half an hours investigation, and aft
| er approaching several times within few
| feet of the food upon the ground, he seemed
| to conclude there was no connection be
| tween it and the piece hanging by the
| string. So he finally walked up to it and
fell to pecking it, Tipping his wings all
the time, rs n 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. ri
Soon his mate came and alighted on q
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 presently 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 a safe
distance from it. Then put it back to
the ground, but they grew more and more
suspicious. Some evil intent in it all,
they thought. Finally a dog carried off
the bone, and the crows ceased to visit the
tree.-John Burroughs in Century. -