"The crow doth sing as merry as the lark,
When neither is attended."
Few birds have more interesting characteristics than the Common Crow,
being, in many of his actions, very like the Raven, especially in his
love for carrion. Like the Raven, he has been known to attack game,
although his inferior size forces him to call to his assistance the aid
of his fellows to cope with larger creatures. Rabbits and hares are
frequently the prey of this bird which pounces on them as they steal
abroad to feed. His food consists of reptiles, frogs, and lizards; he
is a plunderer of other birds' nests. On the seashore he finds crabs,
shrimps and inhabited shells, which he ingeniously cracks by flying with
them to a great height and letting them fall upon a convenient rock.
The crow is seen in single pairs or in little bands of four or five.
In the autumn evenings, however, they assemble in considerable flocks
before going to roost and make a wonderful chattering, as if comparing
notes of the events of the day.
The nest of the Crow is placed in some tree remote from habitations of
other birds. Although large and very conspicuous at a distance, it is
fixed upon one of the topmost branches quite out of reach of the hand of
the adventurous urchin who longs to secure its contents. It is loosely
made and saucer shaped. Sticks and softer substances are used to
construct it, and it is lined with hair and fibrous roots. Very recently
a thrifty and intelligent Crow built for itself a summer residence in an
airy tree near Bombay, the material used being gold, silver, and steel
spectacle frames, which the bird had stolen from an optician of that
city. Eighty-four frames had been used for this purpose, and they were
so ingeniously woven together that the nest was quite a work of art.
The eggs are variable, or rather individual, in their markings, and
even in their size. The Crow rarely uses the same nest twice, although
he frequently repairs to the same locality from year to year. He is
remarkable for his attachment to his mate and young, surpassing the
Fawn and Turtle Dove in conjugal courtesy.
The Somali Arabs bear a deadly hatred toward the Crow. The origin of
their detestation is the superstition that during the flight of Mohammed
from his enemies, he hid himself in a cave, where he was perceived by
the Crow, at that time a bird of light plumage, who, when he saw the
pursuers approaching the spot, perched above Mohammed's hiding place,
and screamed, "Ghar! Ghar!" (cave! cave!) so as to indicate the place
of concealment. His enemies, however, did not understand the bird, and
passed on, and Mohammed, when he came out of the cave, clothed the Crow
in perpetual black, and commanded him to cry "Ghar" as long as Crows
should live.
And he lives to a good old age. Instances are not rare where he has
attained to half a century, without great loss of activity or failure of
sight.
At Red Bank, a few miles northeast of Cincinnati, on the Little Miami
River, in the bottoms, large flocks of Crows congregate the year around.
A few miles away, high upon Walnut Hills, is a Crow roost, and in the
late afternoons the Crows, singly, in pairs, and in flocks, are seen on
the wing, flying heavily, with full crops, on the way to the roost, from
which they descend in the early morning, crying "Caw! Caw!" to the
fields of the newly planted, growing, or matured corn, or corn stacks,
as the season may provide.