Democratic Sentinel, Volume 8, Number 48, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 December 1884 — AN INTELLIGENT BIRD. [ARTICLE]

AN INTELLIGENT BIRD.

The Antics of a Tame Crow In Con- - necticut. A pair of tame crows, that became almost family pets, have afforded a great deal of amusement to a family in a neighboring town. Taken from the nest before they were able to fly, they learned their first lessons of life in companionship with human bemgs, and grew to be almost as .tame as the domestic poultry. They were taken from the nest probably about the 10th or 12th of June, and have now attained the size of full-grown crows. One marked trait of character that began to be developed pretty early, and has grown with their growth and strengthened with their strength, is a disposition to mischief. One of the two has been from the first much more tame and familiar than the other. “Jack,” as the family pet is called, has developed the thieving and mischievous traits of all the crow tribe. He will enter at an open window and steal whatever he can carry off, particularly if it shines or glitters. In this way he got off with a young lady’s gold thimble, which has been hidden where it is not likely to be found again; and he came near getting off with a lady’s watch, which was rescued just in time, after he had got it out of doors. Warned by experience, the family have to keep the windows shut if they leave any room for the time unguarded. One day recently Jack was caught tearing oft - the wall-paper, of which he had already stripped off nearly a yard. A day or two since he was seen in the act of trying to lift and carry off a rubber door-mat, which, however, . proved a little too heavv for him.

The tendency of both crows was to hide the things they had stolen. they would so deftly conceal, and in such queer places, that there seemed little hope of getting back anything after the crows had once made off with it. Jack, having hidden some article very carefully under a little heap of leaves at the foot of a tree, flew away, apparently well satisfied with that particular piece of work. He had been watched, and in his absence the stolen property was recovered and the leaves replaced as he had left them. When he came back, he went to the spot and cautiously examined the situation—• carefully removing the leaves. Discovering his loss, he exhibited a comical state of astonishment and bewilderment. Cocking his head on one side, he surveyed the scene in a reflective mood; then he re-examined the spot where his stolen property had been hidden; then he went back a rod or two and took a careful survey of the tree and its surroundings, apparently to make sure that he had got the right tree. Having assured himself that the plunder was no longer where he had hidden it, he stood for some time in an apparent state of bewilderment, or a kind of brown study—his head had fre juently turned in a knowing way on one side. At last he gave it up, made an examination all arounertlie tree, and then left tho matter finally, as a conundrum that was evidently too, dbep for him. H

He is a knowing fowl, and like'diis elfin cousin, the raven celebrated *by Edgar Poe, he knows how to come knock gently on the window-pane when he wants to get into the house. He knows, too, just about how much water is to be provided for his bath, for hens very regular and punctual about taking his morning bath, and, after his mistress has come out with one pitcher i of water and poured it into the pan, j Jack always waits for the arrival of the second pitcherful. Then he jumps in 1 and has a jolly time of it, flopping and-' flapping about in the water till he gets “wet as a drowned rat,” when he gets oft', a dripping and object, to some secure spot where he caii dry himself in the snn. —Hartford Times.