The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1904-12-02
THE CROWS OF INDIA
THEY ARE THE ARCH VILLAINS OF
THE BIRD WORLD.

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 <he Anglo-Indian. India with
out its crows is unthinkable; it could
only be likened to London without it's
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 aimless
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 insignifcance be-
side those Of it's 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 6trd 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 ~unscienti6c the system Of
nomenclature"
Tho Ty,1s1r 1r0rry { - o1,10 10 ~.k{Ylr~
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 corvidae. 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
a 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 a couple of minutes. During his
absence a crow swooped down and u &C.
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,
eve 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 mar.S where
seed have been sown.
But 1t is in towns that the iniquity
of the crows reaches it's maximum.
The Madras corvidae are a byword
throughout the length and breadth of
India. The hospital is their fayorite
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 cover which
protect articles placed at the bedside
from the ravages Of the "treble dated
BIRDS" l have seen Il Madras crow
quietly helping itself to the contents of
a basket which an old woman was
carrying on her head. The bird vas
possessed Of sufficient intelligence to
refrain from alighting on the basket.
Had it done so its presence would prob
ably have been detected. It tapped
along just above the top Of the basket,
keeping pace with the woman, and so,
unperceived by her, made q meal of
the contents. The knavish tricks of
crows are by no means confined to hui
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
p%urloined and their lives rendered a
burden by persistent and ingenious per-
s%ecution." | once possessed a grey
hound which used to be fed in the gar
den. A nan had to stand ver the dog
while it was feeding; otherwise the
crows would devour the greater portion
of the meal. Their plan of campaign
al simple and effective. They Q 0
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 ~viciously
at it's tail. The dog would, Of course,
turn on the bird, and the others would
Eeize this opportunity to snatch away
some Of the food. The process would
be repeated until the meal was over.