Amador ledger., 1904-12-16
THE CROWS OF INDIA
THEY ARE THE ARCH VILLAINS OF
THE BIRD WORLD

Two Species of the Feathered Va-n.
bonds Exist Side by Side and PLY
Their Tricks of Iniquity In Com
mOn-Larceny For the Love of IT.
1t is quite impossible for any one
who has not sojourned in the Land
Of Regrets" to appreciate the impor-
tant part played by crows in the daily
life of the Anglo-Indian. India with
out its crows is unthinkable; it could
only be likened to London without its
fogs. Wherever human beings have
their abodes there are multitudes of
corvidae to be found, for the Indian
crow is an inseparable appendage of
town and village. Two species exist
side by side in India, the great black
bird known to Anglo-Indians as the
corby and the smaller gray necked spe-
cies. Both birds lead lives of aimle.s
vagabondage; both are scoundrels of
the most. pronounced type; both are
sinners beyond redemption. Did the
black crow exist alone it would be
held up as the emblem of all that Is
evil and mischievous. AS things are, its
iniquities pale into insignificance be
side those of its gray necked cousin.
The very name of the latter bird Is
sufficient to raise the ire of the right
eous man. To call the arch villain of
the bird world ''the splendid" is mere
mockery of words. Jerdon, the famous
Indian naturalist, "often regrets that
such an inappropriate specific name
should have been applied to this spe-
cies, for it tends to bring into ridicule
among the unscientific the system of
nomenclature"
The Indian crow is able to utilize
most things. A Calcutta bird has
made itself famous for all time by
constructing a nest Of the wires used
to secure the corks of soda water bot
ties. Bombay is very jealous of Cal
cutta, and the crows, of course, ape
their betters. The Bombay birds de
termined not to be outdone by the
Calcutta corvldae. Accordingly one of
the former promptly built her nest of
gold and silven spectacle frames stol-
en- from Messrs. Lawrence & Mayo's
factory. The value of the materials
used in the construction of this nest
was estimated at EGO. But crows will
appropriate things for which they can
have no possible use. They commit
larceny for the love of the thing. The
Indian crow is the incarnate spirit of
mischief The bird will wantonly tear
leaf out of a book lying open on
the table. My gardener, adds Mr.. De
war, puts every morning fresh flowers
in the vases This operation is per-
formed on the veranda. One day the
man was called away from his work
for q couple of minutes. During his
absence crow swooped down and sue
ceeded in taking a beakful of flowers
and breaking the vase in which they
were placed A retired colonel of my
acquaintance who lives in the Hima-
layas is a very enthusiastic gardener,
and the crows are the bane of his life.
They root up his choicest seedlings,
sever the heads of his most superb
flowers from the stalk and fly away
with the little pieces of paper which
he places in cleft sticks to mark where
seed have been sown.
But it is in towns that the iniquity
of the crows reaches its maximum.
The Madras corvidae are a byword
throughout the length and breadth of
India. The hospital is their favorite
playground. They are never so happy
as when annoying the inmates. They
know at once when a person is too i'll
to move. The consequence is that it
has been found necessary to have made
for all the tables wire covers which
protect articles placed at the bedside
from the ravages of the 'treble dated
BIRDS" I have seen Madras crow
quietly helping itself to the contents of
basket which an old woman was
carrying on her head. The bird was
possessed of sufficient intelligence to
refrain from .alighting on the sbasket.
Had it done so its presence would prob
ably have been detected. 1t tapped
| along just above the top of the basket,
keeping pace with the woman, and so,
unperceived by her, made a meal off
the contents, The knavish tricks Of
crows are by no means confined to hu-
man beings. AS Colonel Cunningham
truly says, "Any animal pets are, of
course, even more than inanimate OBJ
jects, subject to their attentions, and
unless in wholly inaccessible places are
constantly liable to have their food
purloined and their lives rendered a
burden by persistent and ingenious per-
secution." 1 once possessed a grey
hound which used to be fed in the gar
den. A man had to stand over the dog
while it was feeding; otherwise the
crows would devour the greater portion
of the meal. Their plan of campaign
was simple and effective They soon
learned the dogs feeding hour and as
1t drew near would take up a position
on any convenient tree. The moment
the greyhound began to eat a crow
would swoop down and peck viciousIy
at its tail. The dog would, of course,
turn on the bird, and the others would
seize this opportunity to snatch away
some Of the food. The process would
be repeated until the meal was over.
Crows tease and annoy wild creatures
with the same readiness that they wor-
ry domestic animals. They mob every
strange bird in much the same way as
the London street arab makes fun of
any person in unusual attire.-Long-
Aan's Magazine.
Sudden Want of Information.
Tommy-Ma, lend me lead pencil
Mother-I just left pen and ink on the
table for you. What do you want with