The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1905-07-04
THE CROWS OF INDIA
THEY ARE THE ARCH VILLAINS OF
THE BIRD WORLD.

Their Tricks OF Iniguity IN cem-
mes-Larceny For the Love Of 10.
II IL quite impossible for any one
who has not sojourned In the Land
Of Regrets" to appreciate the tmpor-
tant part played by crows In the daily
life OF the Anglo-Indian India with.
out Its crows is unthinkabls; 1t could
only be likeAed 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 inseparahle appendage Of
town and village. Two species exist
side by side in India, the great black.
bird known TO Anglo-lndians as the
ccrhy and the smaller gray neeked spe-
cies. Both birds lead lives Of aimless
Sagabondage; both are scoundrels Of
the most pronounced type; both are
sinners beyond redemption. Did the
black crow exist alone Il would be
held up as the emblem Of sll that Is
evil and miSchievous. AS things are, its
iniQuities pale into inslgnifcance 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. Jerion. the famous
Indian naturalist often regrets that
such an inappropriate specific name
should have been applied to this spe-
cies, for II tends to bring into ridicule
among the unscientihc the system Of
nomenclature"
The Indian crow Is able TO utilizs
most things A Calcutta bird has
made itself famous for all time by
constructing 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-
ternlned not to be outlone by the
Calcutta covvidae. 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 f20. 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 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 q 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 II 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 favorite
They are never so happy
as when annoying the inmates. They
know at once when q person is too III
to move The consequence Il that IL
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." ! have seen q Madras crow
quietly helping itself to the contents Of
O basket which an old woman was
carrying on her head The. bird was
Doesessed Of sufficient intelligence to
refrain from alight1ng on the basket
Had II done 90 tn presence would prob
ably have been detected. Il tapped
along Just above the top Of the basket,
keeping pace with the woman. and 90,
unperceived By hx, made meal OF
the contents. The knavtsh tricks Of
crows are By no means confined to hu.
man beings. Az Colonel Cunningham
truly says, Amy animal pets are, Of
course, even more than inanimats OBJ
jects, subject to their attentions, and
unless In wholly inaccessible places are
constantly liable to have their food
Durloined and their lives rendered a
burden by persistent and ingenious per
4ecution-" l once possessed a grey
bound which used to be fed in the gar
len. A man had to stand over the dog
while It was feeding; otherwise the
Rows would deyour the greater portion
rf the meal. Their plan OF campaign
was simple and effective. They soon
learned the dogs feeding hour and as
1 drew near would take up a position
20 any convenient tree. The moment
he greyhound began to eat a crow
you'd swoop down and peck viciously
II Its tail. The dog would, Of course,
urn on the bird, and the others would
'eize this opportunity to snatch away
'ome Of the food. The process would
be repeated until the meal was over.