ts quality, provided only it be portable, can with safety
be left unguarded in any apartment accessible to them. The contents of
ladies' work-boxes, kid gloves, and pocket handkerchiefs vanish
instantly if exposed near a window or open door. They open paper parcels
to ascertain the contents; they will undo the knot on a napkin if it
encloses anything eatable, and I have known a crow to extract the peg
which fastened the lid of a basket in order to plunder the provender
within.

On one occasion a nurse seated in a garden adjoining a regimental
mess-room, was terrified by seeing a bloody clasp-knife drop from the
air at her feet; but the mystery was explained on learning that a crow,
which had been watching the cook chopping mince-meat, had seized the
moment when his head was turned to carry off the knife.

One of these ingenious marauders, after vainly attitudinising in front
of a chained watch-dog, that was lazily gnawing a bone, and after
fruitlessly endeavouring to divert his attention by dancing before him,
with head awry and eye askance, at length flew away for a moment, and
returned bringing a companion which perched itself on a branch a few
yards in the rear. The crow's grimaces were now actively renewed, but
with no better success, till its confederate, poising itself on its
wings, descended with the utmost velocity, striking the dog upon the
spine with all the force of its strong beak. The _ruse_ was successful;
the dog started with surprise and pain, but not quickly enough to seize
his assailant, whilst the bone he had been gnawing was snatched away by
the first crow the instant his head was turned. Two well-authenticated
instances of the recurrence of this device came within my knowledge at
Colombo, and attest the sagacity and powers of communication and
combination possessed by these astute and courageous birds.

On the approach of evening the crows near Colombo assemble in noisy
groups along the margin of the freshwater lake which surrounds the fort
on the eastern side; and here for an hour or two they enjoy the luxury
of throwing the water over their shining backs, and arranging their
plumage decorously, after which they disperse, each taking the direction
of his accustomed quarters for the night.[1]

[Footnote 1: A similar habit has been noticed in the damask Parrots of
Africa (_Palaeornis fuscus_) which daily resort at the same hour to their
accustomed pools to bathe.]

During the storms which usher