Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-01-09
Kse, tho Talking Crow.

II HrrGuKemCUE
1 Haines. president A. 8. r. @. A.
| The White Crow Inn Ii the name OF q
country place near Bennington, VT, owned
| by Mr.. Charles Francis Stone OF this city.
| The buildings comprise q small group OF
| cottages near small hotel on one side OF
l a wide. tumbling trout stream. and tho
farm house and its Outbuildings On the
| other side. This odd name was given to
| the property fully q year before Kee put
| in an appearance. Tho White Crow-"as
| black as any crow could be'-was used on
the family stationery and adopted as sort
| Of country crest with q forethought that
| seems almost prophetic.
In the spring Of 1880, q stranger who was
fishing the streams In the neighborhood or
Bennington found nest Of young crows.
| They were all healthy birds but one. and
1 to die. When the stranger took his leave
he carried away with him all the young
| birds except the sick one. which he left
| with Truman Mallory. the farmer OF the
| On the arrival of the Stones in July. Mr..
Mallory brought the little crow across the
| creek and gave it to ono of the boys. Kee
| was NANCY and sorrowful-looking bird.
moulting Its bedraggied feathers. partic-
ulariy from Its poor and useless little
wings. BY sort Of natural selection. how
ly to the person OF little Haven. the baby
| grandson. The child was as handsome as
| the crow was ugly, but both were young
and the locomotion OF the pair was similar
| iy unsteady.
| Wherever Haven went the crow toddied
| at his heels. He seemed to be fond OF the
other children and could be seen all day.
| black spot in every white group OF little
| ones: but he devoted himself to Haven
| with the partially Of a dog to its master.
| Lato in that first summer after KEGS
feathers had got a fine start, they disap-
peared so suddenly that the children were
| accused of having cut them of; but poor
| Zee was soon discovered pulling out his
| own loosened quilts He spent the summer
4 on the children.s side of the creek. roosting
| at night In the lower limbs of the cedars
where he could hop up from the ground
\ In the fall when his companions left and
| the last load of trunks drove away, Zee
| hoped across the bridge to the farm house
and took up his quarters for the winter In
| an extra large box which was added to
| the dove-cote for his use. and was provided
| with an incline of Stats adapted to his in
| frmities.
| He is fond of water, and delights to be
4 put uncer the hydrant and scrubbed by the
| farmer He is a good fisherman. catching
| the small trout with ease by diving into
| the pools like kingfsher. succession
| Of screened boxes Is arranged in the stream.
and there live trout are kept for the table
| in running water. These boxes are KEGS
| favorite fishing ground whenever they are
left uncovered.
| Kee Is as mischievous as he is talented,
| and to stea1-even to rob and cut for it
/
he made scarcely any noises or showed the
4 least sign that he was learning to talk
| but he was always silently busy as a coll
| lector. Bright objects particularly attract
ed his attention. He gathered up the metal
| tips of ginger ale bottles as If they We're
silver coins. One day he hoped about the
piazza watching a lady who was sewing
| with gold thimble. The instant she laid
down her work and took off her thimble
Kee bounced upon 1t and ran under one
| OF the cottages. On one occasion basket
Of laundered clothes was left on cottage
piazza. Kee carried off the collars first.
one by one, and buried them under the
leaves. and when he was discovered he
was dragging away pair OF long stock
ings. Fortunately he hid most of his pill
| ferings In one secret place alongside a
| water pipe leading from one Of the houses,
and there the things that made mysteri-
Gus disappearance could usually be found
Under the leaves
Grandpa Niles at the farm house was one
! of his victims. Grandpa takes a brand OF
large. shining yellow pills. which he lays
| In by the hundred In the early spring. One
day kee found q box OF these attractive
| pills open on the window sill. Prescribing
for himself he took the whole box at q
dose. filing his craw and stufing his
| cheeks. only to disgorge the collection in
! yellow piles on the grass.
On another occasion. when Farmer NAL
DRY was reading his paper on the piazza,
maneuvering to attract his attention He
uttered cultural sounds. as II chuckling to
himself over what he had done and then
began Juggling with his bill at the farmers
| trousers. True" said Mrs. Mallory why
don't you get up and go and see what that
bird wants"
Kee led the way around the house to the
garden. where he had dug up ell the white
beans the farmer had just planted, and ar
ranged them In neat piles to be planted
again.
When the first Of the family arrived at
| the cottage for the second season, Kee
promptly deserted his friends at the farm
house and moved across the creek. During
the winter he had become a talking and
| crow It must be acknowledged that his
oaths were mostly confined to Gosh" that
Vermont oath OF surprise, which he pro-
nounced with great gusto.
He could bark like dog or initiate two
dogs fighting. He could crow like a cock
and cluck like hen that had just laid
fresh egg. He could initiate the cries of
variety OF animals. At o'clock In the
morning he did all the talking on his side
OF the creek. waking up his friends from
the city by doing his stunts" He pro-
nounced grandpa" so well that a new
maid ran out to bring In Haven, feeling
quite shocked that the child should be out
In the wet grass so early In the morning.
This crow takes very strong likes and
dislikes to the people he comes in contact
with. and has an excellent memory for
favor or an injury. There Is bad blood be-
tween Kee and little Miss Dorothy, who
hit him with a stick the day she came.
net never MISSES al opportunity TO annoy
her. He flies at her and pecks at her bright
shoe buckles and tries to drive her away
from the other children. Haven. on the
other hand. can do anything with him.
from putting chips on his shoulders 20
carrying him about in his arms When
Dorothy and Haven have a scrap, the
crow plunges into the scrimmage, flying at
Dorothy and winning the battle for Haven
in short order.
One of the guests at the hotel struck Kee
with tennis racket, and whenever that
particular young man undertook to play on
the tennis court. the crow made 1t his busi-
ness, or rather his pleasure. to annoy him.
He would fly about In front Of his human
enemy. darling and swooping so persistent
ly and vicfousiy, just out Of reach OF the
racket. that it was impossible to go on with
the game until the crow was shut up
One Of KEGS fayorites Is a dachshund,
with whom he fights playful make-believe
battles until the dog gets too much In
earnest or the other dogs take a hand
when the crow flies to limb overhead and
jeers at the dogs with a sharp. clucking
sound very much like woodpecker tapping
on a tree trunk.