ing its 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, which 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 with it a companion who perched itself on a branch a
few yards in the rear. The crow's grimaces were now actively renewed,
but with no better result, till its confederate, poising himself on his
wings, descended with the utmost velocity, striking the dog upon the
spine with all the force of his 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 disappeared 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 assemble in noisy groups along the
margin of the fresh-water lake which surrounds Colombo on the eastern
side; here for an hour or two they enjoy the luxury of the bath, tossing
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 water to bathe.]

During the storms which usher in the monsoon, it has bee