Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1897-03-28
PET CROWS.
story of One That Carried on Eggs
Fate That Finally Overlook 1t.

CNew York SUM
THE crows used to come down and eat
our corn" said a city man who once lived
on farm, land the Old crows would
carry away corn FOR the young ones in
the nests We put up scarecrows in the
cornfeld, but they never did any good,
for the crows paid no attention to them.
/ reckon about the only really eihcaclous
way of keeping crows out Of a cornfeld
is to kill EN-, and we used to destroy the
young crows when we could, the boys
climbing the trees to get at the nests.
"Once / carried a couple Of young crows
home one of these crows disappeared
very soon, but the other stayed with US
for months, and became very tame When
we ploughed or planted he'd follow along
in the furrow in a friendly, sociable sort
of way, and pick up worms. But he was
fun Of mischief, and forever carrying of
things, as most crows will, and the naolt
finally cost him his life.
"The crow lived in the barn. We
couldn's keep him in the house because
he would have carried off all the knives
and forks and spoons ana such things,
but we used to take him in sometimes,
and when he wanted TO come in he would
come and peck at a window, and some
times he'd bark like a dog. He didn't
have a chance to get many things out OF
the house, but it was easier for him to
get at the things In a building we had
on the farm where we used 20 do our re-
pairing of wagons and plows and one
thing and another, and 81 seemed 10 give
the crow particular delight TO carry OIL
nails. There was knothole through the
/ weather boarding on the ridge OF the
barn. down near one of the gable ends
n
directly under it, so that there was a
hole down through into the barn. The
crow never got tired Of dropping nails
through that hole 1t would fly up there
with a beak full Of them and sit on the
sharp edge Of the roof and drop them
through the hole. Then 1t would bend
over and hoist its head around, and look
| down through. Apparently, TO this crow,
dropping nails down through this Knot
/ hole was the funniest thing IN the WoIlu'
"The crow used TO do other things that
would sometimes give US real trouble.
/ II would get up on the roof of the house.
! for instance, and seek out shingles that
/ had soft spots in them, and pick holes
| through them; and there never was
/ pair of red stockings put on the line on
! wash-days that we didn't nave 10 hunt
/ for them later The crow had either
! great antipathy or q great fancy ior
/ red stockings, and he always manager
/ 10 get them off the line in some way
| and get away with them. We always
used TO find them again, but sometimes
we had to look for them.
when we had had the crow a Few
months. he got to going down 10 the
village. about half a mile from where we
/ lived The first we knew Of that was
when he began bringing home whole
hard-boiled eggs from restaurant
| there He would jab one point OF his
beak into an egg so as 10 impale IT,
and then he'd shut the other point down
ON the egg 10 steady II and help hold
II and then fly away with it, He must
| have had TO rest more or less on the
wav home but he used to bring Whole
boiled eggs in that way
eat first they liked him In the village,
/ and used to pet. him and make soou
| deal of him, arid be glad 10 see hlH'
He was O. quaint queer sort or chap,
/ friendly and good-naturcd, but sly ana
he would carry off things, ana after
ovybue the very traits that had at first
made neople laugh at him, brought MN
| INTO disrenute. People got tired OF him.
and instead Of being amused, they were
J irritated bv him OF course, the crow
co,Idn't understand this, and if 1t had,
don't suppose ii would have made any
difference IL was the crow nature 10 10
tbings that way, and then Ike man,
the crow is perverse. Anyhow, IL Kept
right on lust the same, and hnaily some
bodv DoisOned IL"