Evening star., 1943-12-14
This and That
Bu Charles E. TrdceDeH.
CHEVY CHASE, Nd

Dear Sir:
"A crow went over my house this
morning. This relative Of the jay was
high, but his cav came down to me
pleasantly. I thought I had never heard
prettier music.
"It seemed to me to be the best sort
Of Christmas music. I guess this Is
because I come from q small town IN
the Midwest, where crows were more
common.
This cav from the sky, Just as the
morning light was being turned up good.
sent me backward in time and space
with rush, to the days when thought
a locomotive and a freight train were
the most wonderful things in the world.
Some people still do.
The great thrill Of my boyhood was
being allowed to pilot the freight train
on the run between our town and the
next. No pilot of today can ever recall
his first solo with more enthusiasm.
THE cav Of the crow Is mixed up
forever with my boyhood. And now
when I hear it, on frosty morning,
something turns over in me, and am
glad I am alive. despite the war, and
my own personal loss in 1t. I am glad
I am alive, and hope to live long enough
to see the complete triumph Of right,
its own again.
Sincerely yours, NJ McC."
The crow is grand old bird, despite
all that has been said against him.
1t is interesting to recall that only
New Zealand and parts of Polynesia
are without representatives of the crow
jay family (The family Corvidae, the
order Passeres, the suborder Oscines)
1t will be realized that the crow be-
longs to the songbirds, just as the jay
does, though neither one would ever take
prizes on the concert stage.
Yet on a cold morning there is no
sound in nature more thrilling than the
cav Of the crow as it floats down to us.
The sound has a quality Of floating
which is not given to most bird notes.
Many bird songs, especially alarm
calls Of one sort or another, are hurled,
but the cav Of the crow is noated. A
concert soprano might take lessons from
the crow.
The American crow, or common crow
long, with deep black plumage.
Immature crows have a violet gloss
over the upper parts during the first
winter Baby crows are dull sooty or
gray-black
as high as IS feet in tree. From four
to eight eggs are laid. These range
from pale blue green to olive, and are
al yxyi{l y, h,.Nxr y,l
Our crow is one of our smartest birds,
as many farmer has learned from ex-
perience.
He can be made into fine pet, shar-
ing with the jays and magpies delight
in thievery. His taste runs to red,
among the colors, and bright metals,
such as scissors.
Does the crow know that red is be-
coming to his glossy black feathers?
We would not put it beyond him, for
he is as intelligent as things In feathers
come.
1t is interesting to note that 1t is no
longer held necessary to split the tongue
of a crow in order to teach it to talk
That is another of the old exploded
ideas
Crows put out sentinels, as do the
starlings
They even hold conventions, and have
been known to peck some offender to
death, seemingly as result Of the de-
liberations, but experienced observers as
sure us there is absolutely no evidence
to show that the big birds really hold
trials for offenders.
Examination Of crow stomachs has
demonstrated that his nest-robbing pro-
clivities are not - universal ~ some
think.