the band. They were flying very low to be out
of the wind, and would have to rise a little to clear the bridge on
which I was. Silverspot saw me standing there, and as I was closely
watching him he didn't like it. He checked his flight and called out,
'Be on your guard,' and rose much higher in the air. Then seeing that I
was not armed he flew over my head about twenty feet, and his followers
in turn did the same, dipping again to the old level when past the
bridge.

Next day I was at the same place, and as the crows came near I raised my
walking stick and pointed it at them. The old fellow at once cried out
'Danger,' and rose fifty feet higher than before. Seeing that it was not
a gun, he ventured to fly over. But on the third day I took with me a
gun, and at once he cried out, 'Great danger--a gun.' His lieutenant
repeated the cry, and every crow in the troop began to tower and scatter
from the rest, till they were far above gun shot, and so passed safely
over, coming down again to the shelter of the valley when well beyond
reach. Another time, as the long, straggling troop came down the valley,
a red-tailed hawk alighted on a tree close by their intended route. The
leader cried out, 'Hawk, hawk,' and stayed his flight, as did each crow
on nearing him, until all were massed in a solid body. Then, no longer
fearing the hawk, they passed on. But a quarter of a mile farther on
a man with a gun appeared below, and the cry, 'Great danger--a gun,
a--gun; scatter fur your lives,' at once caused them to scatter widely
and tower till far beyond range. Many others of his words of command I
learned in the course of my long acquaintance, and found that sometimes
a very little difference in the sound makes a very great difference in
meaning. Thus while No. 5 means hawk, or any large, dangerous bird, this
means 'wheel around,' evidently a combination of No. 5, whose root idea
is danger, and of No. 4, whose root idea is retreat, and this again is a
mere 'good day,' to a far away comrade. This is usually addressed to the
ranks and means 'attention.'

Early in April there began to be great doings among the crows. Some new
cause of excitement seemed to have come on them. They spent half the
day among the pines, instead of foraging from dawn till dark. Pairs
and trios might be seen chasing each other, and from time to time they
showed off in various feats of flight. A favorite sport was to dart down
suddenly from a great height toward