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1859.] The Winter-Birds. secutions to which he has always been subjected have caused the development of an amount of intelligence that elevates him many degrees above the majority of the feathered race. There are few birds that equal the Crow in sagacity. He observes many things that would seem to require the fac- ulties of a rational being. He judges with accuracy, from the deportiment of the per- son approaching him, if he is prepared to do him an injury; and seems to pay no regard to one who is strolling the fields in search of flowers or for recreation. On such occasions, one may get so near him as to observe his manners, and even to note the varying shades of his plu- mage. But in vain does the sportsman endeavor to approach him. So sure is he to fly at the right moment for his safe- ty, that one might suppose he could meas- ure the distance of gunshot. The voice of the Crow is like no other sound uttered by the feathered race; it is harsh and unmelodious, and though he is capable, when domesticated, of imitat- ing human speech, he cannot sing. But Æsop mistook the character of this bird when he represented him as the dupe of the fox, who gained the bit of cheese he carried in his mouth by inducing him to exhibit his musical powers. The Crow could not be fooled by any such appeals to his vanity. such The Crow is commonly regarded as a homely bird; yet he is not without beau- ty. His coat of glossy black with violet reflections, his dark eyes and sagacious expression of countenance, his stately and graceful gait, and his steady and equable flight, combine to give him a proud and dignified appearance. The Crow and the Raven have always been celebrated for their gravity,-a character that seems to be the result of their black sacerdotal vesture, and of certain mani- festations of intelligence in their ways and general deportment. Indeed, any one who should watch the motions of the Crow for the space of five minutes, either when he is stalking alone in the field, or when he is careering with his fellows 327 around some tall tree in the forest, would acknowledge that he deserves to be called a grave bird. Setting aside the services rendered by the Crow to agriculture, I esteem him for certain qualities which are agreeably as- sociated with the charms of Nature. It is not the singing-birds alone that con- tribute by their voices to gladden the husbandman and cheer the solitary trav- eller. The crowing of the Cock at the break of day is as joyful a sound, though not so musical, as the voice of the Robin who chants his lays at the same early hour. To me the cawing of the Crow is cheering and delightful, and it is heard long before the majority of birds have lett their perch. If not one of the melo- dies of morn, it is one of the most nota- ble sounds that herald its approach. And how intimately is the voice of this bird associated with the sunshine of calm win- ter-days, with our woodland excursions during this inclement season, with the stroke of the woodman's axe,—with open doors in bright and pleasant weather, when the eaves are dripping with the melting snow, and with all those cheer- ful sounds that enliven the groves during that period when every object is valuable that relieves the silence or softens the dreary aspect of Nature! If we leave the open fields and woods, and ramble near the coast to some re- tired and solitary branch of the sea, our meditations may be suddenly startled by the harsh voice of the Kingfisher, like the sound of a watchman's rattle. This bird is seldom seen in winter in the interior; most of his species migrate southwardly and to the sea-coast, just so far as to be within reach of the open waters. As they subsist on the smaller kinds of fishes, they would per- ish with hunger, after the waters are frozen, if they did not migrate. But the Kingfisher often remains on the coast during open winters, and may there- fore be considered one of our winter- birds. This bird is the celebrated Alcedo, or Halcyon, of the ancients, who attribut-