CROWS AND THEIR COUSINS
In half an hour the children were back again, all talking eagerly
together.
"The Redwings scolded us like everything!" said Dodo, "and Rap stepped
right into an empty Meadow-lark's nest, without seeing it. A little way
back there are lots of Bobolinks, too, singing and singing, but we
couldn't find a single nest."
"It was pretty warm out there," said Nat, fanning himself with a wide
haymaker's hat, such as both he and Dodo had worn since they came to the
Farm.
"Come under the shelter and rest until Olaf has dinner ready. Where is
Olive?"
"She is down by the water looking for seaweeds, for her album."
"Have we used up all the Blackbird family?" asked Dodo, as they sat on
the sand and began to dig holes with their hands.
"Oh, no; there is the biggest of all--the Crow," said Nat.
"Strange as it is," replied the Doctor, "though the Crow is the blackest
of all our birds he does not belong to the Blackbird family, but to a
separate one of his own--the family of Crows, Jays, and Magpies."
"How is that, Uncle Roy? You said that beautiful blue and gray bird we
saw in the woods was a Jay," said Nat.
"Yes, but that is no stranger, as far as looks go, than to find a
flaming Oriole in the Blackbird family, is it? You remember that I told
you the relationship of birds depends upon their likeness in the bones
and the rest of their inwards, not upon the color of their feathers."
"See! there are a great many Crows on that sandbar! They are picking up
mussels! Some are bigger than others!" said Rap, who had been taking a
look through the field-glass. "Are the small ones the females, or are
there two kinds of Crows?"
"There are several kinds of Crows in the United States, besides Ravens
and Magpies, who are cousins to the Crow. About here we usually only see
two of them--the two that are now down on the bar--the American Crow and
the Fish Crow. The Fish Crow is the smaller of the two, lives along the
coast, and does not often go further north than Connecticut. It takes
its name from its habit of catching fish in shallow pools and bays.
"The larger Crow is the bird that every one knows and most people
dislike, because it has always been called a corn thief, though the Wise
Men say it is rather a useful bird after all.
"The Crow is certainly a black, gloomy-looking bird, with a disagreeable
voice. If several pairs make up their minds to build in the cedars or
tall pines in one's grounds, anywhere near the house, the noise they
make early in the morning is very tiresome. 'Ka--Ka--Ka-a-a-ah!' they
call and quaver, at the first peep of day. Then they begin to look about
for breakfast. If there is a Robin's or Dove's nest at hand, they think
it is foolish to look further, and help themselves to fresh eggs or
squabs. This makes us very angry, and we have the great Crow's nest--a
peck or two of sticks, lined with the bark of cedars and grape
vines--pulled from the tree-top where the crafty bird had hidden it.
[Illustration: American Crow.]
"It is perfectly right to do so, from our point of view. I, for one, do
not wish Crows in my garden or about the Farm, where I see only the bad
side of their characters. So we chase them away, and put scarecrows in
the corn-fields. Do the Crows care? Not a bit! They laugh and talk about
us behind our backs, and before our faces too. They pretend to be
afraid, and fly away if a man appears a quarter of a mile off; but
merely to settle down in another part of the field until their watcher
tells them to move away again.
"There is a watcher for every flock, who gives the order to fly, and
warns the troop at every approach of danger.
"Of course we must remember that for many months of the year the Crow
eats grasshoppers, grubs, and even mice; but it is easy to forget this
when one discovers that half a dozen Crows have eaten all the young
Robins in the orchard, in a single morning."
"Did they ever do that in our Orchard?" asked Dodo.
"Yes--not once, but many times; and that is the reason why I do not
allow Crows to nest anywhere on the Farm. In great open farming
districts, where other birds are few, they may do much more good than
evil; but not in well-settled places or about gardens and pleasure
grounds."
The American Crow
Length from eighteen to twenty inches.
Glossy black from the tip of its beak to the end of its toes.
A Citizen of North America from the Fur Countries to Mexico.
A dismal and noisy neighbor for three mouths in the year, making itself
hateful by destroying grain, and the eggs and young of song birds; but
for the other nine a good citizen, working in the guilds of Ground
Gleaners and Wise Watchers.
THE BLUE JAY
"This Jay is accused of the same bad tricks as the Crow--pulling up
sprouting corn, eating ripe corn, and going birds'-nesting, to suck the
eggs and eat the helpless young. But we must not judge the whole tribe
by what we have seen a pair or two do in the Orchard or home woods in
the mating season.
"The Blue Jay is the third of our really familiar blue birds and is
certainly very handsome. Do you remember who the other two are?"
"The Bluebird!" said Dodo quickly. "And the Blue Sparrow!" cried Nat.
"You mean the Indigo Bird," laughed Rap. "The Blue Jay is a queer bird,
who can twist himself into all sorts of shapes. He sits one way when he
sings, another when he is watching out for danger, and when he calls he
is too funny for anything--he humps himself up and drops his tail as if
he was falling apart, and then squawks!"
[Illustration: Blue Jay.]
"I see that you know this bird very well," said the Doctor. "Have you
seen his nest?"
"Once. It was in the miller's woods, half-way up in a chestnut tree, and
built just like a Crow's, only much smaller. That season one of the Jays
whistled and carried on till I thought there were ever so many birds
together, and then laughed at me! They come round the mill for sweepings
in winter, but they are almost as shy as Crows."
When Olaf came with a basket and some short-handled hoes, the Doctor
told Dodo she might take off her shoes and stockings and go down on the
sandbar with Nat and Olaf, to dig clams for the chowder for dinner.
"More niceness!" screamed Dodo. "Olaf! Olaf! do clams grow in hills like
potatoes? I thought they swam like fish! Aren't you coming, uncle, and
Rap too, to tell us about clams?"
"No; you must talk to Olaf. We are going to help Olive with her
seaweeds."
The Blue Jay
Length nearly twelve inches.
A fine blue and black crest on the head, very tall and pointed.
Upper parts blue, brighter on the wings and tail, which have many black
bars and some white tips.
Under parts grayish-white, with a black collar.
A Citizen of eastern North America from the Fur Countries to Florida.
Belonging to the guild of Ground Gleaners, his special work being to
kill grasshoppers and caterpillars; but often eats young birds and sucks
eggs, like a cannibal bird.