Blacky the Crow
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Thornton W. Burgess >> Blacky the Crow
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BLACKY THE CROW
BY THORNTON W. BURGESS
CHAPTER I: Blacky The Crow Makes A Discovery
Blacky the Crow is always watching for things not intended for his
sharp eyes. The result is that he gets into no end of trouble which
he could avoid. In this respect he is just like his cousin, Sammy
Jay. Between them they see a great deal with which they have no
business and which it would be better for them not to see.
Now Blacky the Crow finds it no easy matter to pick up a living when
snow covers the Green Meadows and the Green Forest, and ice binds
the Big River and the Smiling Pool. he has to use his sharp eyes for
all they are worth in order to find enough to fill his stomach, and
he will eat anything in the way of food that he can swallow. Often
he travels long distances looking for food, but at night he always
comes back to the same place in the Green Forest, to sleep in
company with others of his family.
Blacky dearly loves company, particularly at night, and about the
time jolly, round, red Mr. Sun is beginning to think about his bed
behind the Purple Hills, you will find Blacky heading for a certain
part of the Green Forest where he knows he will have neighbors of
his own kind. Peter Rabbit says that it is because Blacky's
conscience troubles him so that he doesn't dare sleep alone, but
Happy Jack Squirrel says that Blacky hasn't any conscience. You can
believe just which you please, though I suspect that neither of them
really knows.
As I have said, Blacky is quite a traveler at this time of year, and
sometimes his search for food takes him to out-of-the-way
places. One day toward the very last of winter, the notion entered
his black head that he would have a look in a certain lonesome
corner of the Green Forest where once upon a time Redtail the Hawk
had lived. Blacky knew well enough that
Redtail wasn't there now; he had gone south in the fell and wouldn't
be back until he was sure that Mistress Spring had arrived on the
Green Meadows and in the Green Forest.
Like the black imp he is, Blacky flew over the tree-tops, his sharp
eyes watching for something interesting below. Presently he saw
ahead of him the old nest of Red-tail. He knew all about that
nest. He had visited it before when Red-tail was away. Still it
might be worth another visit. You never can tell what you may find
in old houses. Now, of course, Blacky knew perfectly well that
Redtail was miles and miles, hundreds of miles away, and so there
was nothing to fear from him. But Blacky learned ever so long ago
that there is nothing like making sure that there is no danger. So,
instead of flying straight to that old nest, he first flew over the
tree so that he could look down into it.
Right away he saw something that made him gasp and blink his
eyes. It was quite large and white, and it looked -- it looked
very much indeed like an egg! Do you wonder that Blacky gasped and
blinked? Here was snow on the ground, and Rough Brother North Wind
and Jack Frost had given no hint that they were even thinking of
going back to the Far North. The idea of any one laying an egg at
this time of year! Blacky flew over to a tall pine-tree to think it
over.
"Must be it was a little lump of snow," thought he. "Yet if ever I
saw an egg, that looked like one. Jumping grasshoppers, how good an
egg would taste right now!" You know Blacky has a weakness for
eggs. The more he thought about it, the hungrier he grew. Several
times he almost made up his mind to fly straight over there and make
sure, but he didn't quite dare. If it were an egg, it must belong to
somebody, and perhaps it would be best to find out who. Suddenly
Blacky shook himself. "I must be dreaming," said he. "There
couldn't, there just couldn't be an egg at this time of year, or in
that old tumble-down nest! I'll just fly away and forget it."
So he flew away, but he couldn't forget it. He kept thinking of it
all day, and when he went to sleep that night he made up his mind to
have another look at that old nest.
CHAPTER II: Blacky Makes Sure
"As true as ever I've cawed a caw
That was a new-laid egg I saw."
"What are you talking about?" demanded Sammy Jay, coming up just in
time to hear the last part of what Blacky the Crow was mumbling to
himself.
"Oh nothing, Cousin, nothing at all," replied Blacky. "I was just
talking foolishness to myself." Sammy looked at him sharply. "You
aren't feeling sick, are you, Cousin Blacky?" he asked. "Must be
something the matter with you when you begin talking about new-laid
eggs, when everything's covered with snow and ice. Foolishness is
no name for it. Whoever heard of such a thing as a new-laid egg this
time of year"
"Nobody, I guess, " replied Blacky. "I told you I was just talking
foolishness. You see, I'm so hungry that I just got to thinking what
I'd have if I could have anything I wanted. That made me think of
eggs, and I tried to think just how I would feel if I should
suddenly see a great big egg right in front of me. I guess I must
have said something about it."
"I guess you must have. It isn't egg time yet, and it won't be for a
long time. Take my advice and just forget about impossible
things. I'm going over to Farmer Brown's corncrib. Corn may not be
as good as eggs, but it is very good and very filling. Better come
along, " said Sammy.
"Not this morning, thank you. Some other time, perhaps, " replied Blacky.
He watched Sammy disappear through the trees. Then he flew to the
top of the tallest pine-tree to make sure that no one was
about. When he was quite sure that no one was watching him, he
spread his wings and headed for the most lonesome corner of the
Green Forest.
"I'm foolish. I know I'm foolish, " he muttered. "But I've just got
to have another look in that
old nest of Redtail the Hawk. I just can't get it out of my head
that that was an egg, a great, big, white egg, that I saw there
yesterday. It won't do any harm to have another look, anyway."
Straight toward the tree in which was the great tumble-down nest of
Redtail the Hawk he flew, and as he drew near, he flew high, for
Blacky is too shrewd and smart to take any chances. Not that he
thought that there could be any danger there; but you never can
tell, and it is always the part of wisdom to be on the safe side. As
he passed over the top of the tree, he looked down eagerly. Just
imagine how he felt when instead of one, he saw two white things in
the old nest. -- two white things that looked for all the world like
eggs! The day before there had been but one; now there were
two. That settled it in Blacky's mind; they were eggs! They couldn't
be anything else.
Blacky kept right on flying. Somehow he didn't dare stop just
then. He was too much excited by what he had discovered to think
clearly. He had got to have time to get his wits together. Whoever
had laid those eggs was big and strong. He felt sure of that. It
must be some one a great deal bigger than himself, and he was of no
mind to get into trouble, even for a dinner of fresh eggs. He must
first find out whose they were;
then he would know better what to do. He felt sure that no one else
knew about them, and he knew that they couldn't run away. So he kept
right on flying until he reached a certain tall pine-tree where he
could sit and think without being disturbed.
"Eggs!" he muttered. "Real eggs! Now who under the sun can have
moved into Redtail's old house? And what can they mean by laying
eggs before Mistress Spring has even sent word that she has started?
It's too much for me. It certainly is too much for me."
CHAPTER III: Blacky Finds Out Who Owns The Eggs
Two big white eggs in a tumbledown nest, and snow and ice
everywhere! Did ever anybody hear of such a thing before?
"Wouldn't believe it, if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes,"
muttered Blacky the Crow. "Have to believe them. If I can't believe
them, it's of no use to try to believe anything in this world. As
sure as I sit here, that old nest has two eggs in it. Whoever laid
them must be crazy to start housekeeping at this time of year. I
must find out whose eggs they are and then --"
Blacky didn't finish, but there was a hungry look in his eyes that
would have told any who saw it, had there been any to see it, that
he had a use for those eggs. But there was none to see it, and he
took the greatest care that there should be none to see him when he
once again started for a certain lonesome corner of the Green
Forest.
"First I'll make sure that the eggs are still there, " thought he,
and flew high above the tree tops, so that as he passed over the
tree in which was the old nest of Red-tail the Hawk, he might look
down into it. To have seen him, you would never have guessed that he
was looking for anything in particular. He seemed to be just flying
over on his way to some distant place. If the eggs were still there,
he meant to come back and hide in the top of a near-by pine-tree to
watch until he was sure that he might safely steal those eggs, or to
find out whose they were.
Blacky's heart beat fast with excitement as he drew near that old
tumble-down nest. Would those two big white eggs be there? Perhaps
there would be three! The very thought made him flap his wings a
little faster. A few more wing strokes and he would be right over
the tree. How he did hope to see those eggs! He could almost see
into the nest now. One stroke! Two strokes! Three strokes! Blacky
bit his tongue to keep from giving a sharp caw of disappointment and
surprise.
There were no eggs to be seen. No, Sir, there wasn't a sign of eggs
in that old nest. There wasn't because -- why, do you think? There
wasn't because Blacky looked straight down on a great mass of
feathers which quite covered them from sight, and he didn't have to
look twice to know that that great mass of feathers was really a
great bird, the bird to whom those eggs belonged.
Blacky didn't turn to come back as he had planned. He kept right on,
just as if he hadn't seen anything, and as he flew he shivered a
little. He shivered at the thought of what might have happened to
him if he had tried to steal those eggs the day before and had been
caught doing it.
"I'm thankful I knew enough to leave them alone, " said he. "Funny I
never once guessed whose eggs they are. I might have known that no
one but Hooty the Horned Owl would think of nesting at this time of
year. And that was Mrs. Hooty I saw on the nest just now. My, but
she's big! She's bigger than Hooty himself! Yes, Sir, it's a lucky
thing I didn't try to get those eggs yesterday. Probably both Hooty
and Mrs. Hooty were sitting close by, only they were sitting so
still that I thought they were parts of the tree they were
in. Blacky, Blacky, the sooner you forget those eggs the better."
Some things are best forgotten As soon as they are learned.
Who never plays with fire Will surely not get burned.
CHAPTER IV: The Cunning Of Blacky
Now when Blacky the Crow discovered that the eggs in the old
tumble-down nest of Redtail the Hawk in a lonesome corner of the
Green Forest belonged to Hooty the Owl, he straightway made the best
of resolutions; he would simply forget all about those eggs. He
would forget that he ever had seen them, and he would stay away from
that corner of the Green Forest. That was a very wise resolution. Of
all the people who live in the Green Forest, none is fiercer or more
savage than Hooty the Owl, unless it is Mrs. Hooty. She is bigger
than Hooty and certainly quite as much to be feared by the little
people.
All this Blacky knows. No one knows it better. And Blacky is not one
to poke his head into trouble with his eyes open. So he very wisely
resolved to forget all about those eggs. Now it is one thing to make
a resolution and quite another thing to live up to it, as you all
know. It was easy enough to say that he would forget, but not at all
easy to forget. It would have been different if it had been spring
or early summer, when there were plenty of other eggs to be had by
any one smart enough to find them and steal them. But now, when it
was still winter (such an unheard-of time for any one to have
eggs!), and it was hard work to find enough to keep a hungry Crow's
stomach filled, the thought of those eggs would keep popping into
his head. He just couldn't seem to forget them. After a little, he
didn't try.
Now Blacky the Crow is very, very cunning. He is one of the smartest
of all the little people who fly. No one can get into more mischief
and still keep out of trouble than can Blacky the Crow. That is
because he uses the wits in that black head of his. In fact, some
people are unkind enough to say that he spends all his spare time in
planning mischief. The more he thought of those eggs, the more he
wanted them, and it wasn't long before he began to try to plan some
way to get them without risking his own precious skin.
"I can't do it alone, " thought he, "and yet if I take any one into
my secret, I'll have to share those eggs. That won't do at all,
because I want them myself. I found them, and I ought to have
them." He quite forgot or overlooked the fact that those eggs
really belonged to Hooty and Mrs. Hooty and to no one else. "Now let
me see, what can I do?"
He thought and he thought and he thought and he thought, and little
by little a plan worked out in his little black head. Then he
chuckled. He chuckled right out loud, then hurriedly looked around
to see if any one had heard him. No one had, so he chuckled
again. He cocked his head on one side and half closed his eyes, as
if that plan was something he could see and he was looking at it
very hard. Then he cocked his head on the other side and did the
same thing.
"It's all right, " said he at last. "It'll give my relatives a lot
of fun, and of course they will be very grateful to me for that. It
won't hurt Hooty or Mrs. Hooty a bit, but it will make them very
angry. They have very short tempers, and people with short tempers
usually forget everything else when they are angry. We'll pay them a
visit while the sun is bright, because then perhaps they cannot see
well enough to catch us, and we'll tease them until they lose their
tempers and forget all about keeping guard over those eggs. Then
I'll slip in and get one and perhaps both of them. Without knowing
that they are doing anything of the kind, my friends and relatives
will help me to get a good meal. My, how good those eggs will
taste!"
It was a very clever and cunning plan, for Blacky is a very clever
and cunning rascal, but of course it didn't deserve success because
nothing that means needless worry and trouble for others deserves to
succeed.
CHAPTER V: Blacky Calls His Friends
When Blacky cries "Caw, caw, caw, caw!" As if he'd dislocate his
jaw, His relatives all hasten where He waits them with a crafty air.
They know that there is mischief afoot, and the Crow family is
always ready for mischief. So on this particular morning when they
heard Blacky cawing at the top of his lungs from the tallest
pine-tree in the Green Forest, they hastened over there as fast as
they could fly, calling to each other excitedly and sure that they
were going to have a good time of some kind.
Blacky chuckled as he saw them coming. "Come on! Come on! Caw, caw,
caw! Hurry up and flap your wings faster. I know where Hooty the Owl
is, and we'll have no end of fun with him, " he cried.
"Caw, caw, caw, caw, caw, caw!" shouted all his relatives in great
glee. "Where is he? Lead us to him. We'll drive him out of the Green
Forest!"
So Blacky led the way over to the most lonesome corner of the Green
Forest, straight to the tree in which Hooty the Owl was comfortably
sleeping. Blacky had taken pains to slip over early that morning and
make sure just where he was. He had discovered Hooty fast asleep,
and he knew that he would remain right where he was until dark. You
know Hooty's eyes are not meant for much use in bright light, and
the brighter the light, the more uncomfortable his eyes feel. Blacky
knows this, too, and he had chosen the very brightest part of the
morning to call his relatives over to torment poor Hooty. Jolly,
round, bright Mr. Sun was shining his very brightest, and the white
snow on the ground made it seem brighter still. Even Blacky had to
blink, and he knew that poor Hooty would find it harder still.
But one thing Blacky was very careful not to even hint of, and that
was that Mrs. Hooty was right close at hand. Mrs. Hooty is bigger
and even more fierce than Hooty, and Blacky didn't want to frighten
any of the more timid of his relatives. What he hoped down deep in
his crafty heart was that when they got to teasing and tormenting
Hooty and making the great racket which he knew they would,
Mrs. Hooty would lose her temper and fly over to join Hooty in
trying to drive away the black tormentors. Then Blacky would slip
over to the nest which she had left unguarded and steal one and
perhaps both of the eggs he knew were there.
When they reached the tree where Hooty was, he was blinking his
great yellow eyes and had fluffed out all his feathers, which is a
way he has when he is angry, to make himself look twice as big as he
really is. Of course, he had heard the noisy crew coming, and he
knew well enough what to expect. As soon as they saw him, they began
to scream as loud as ever they could and to call him all manner of
names. The boldest of them would dart at him as if to pull out a
mouthful of feathers, but took the greatest care not to get too
near. You see, the way Hooty hissed and snapped his great bill was
very threatening, and they knew that if once he got hold of one of
them with those big cruel claws of his, that would be the end.
So they were content to simply scold and scream at him and fly
around him, just out of reach, and make him generally uncomfortable,
and they were so busy doing this that no one noticed that Blacky was
not joining in the fun, and no one paid any attention to the old
tumble-down nest of Redtail the Hawk only a few trees distant. So
far Blacky's plans were working out just as he had hoped.
CHAPTER VI: Hooty The Owl Doesn't Stay Still
Now what's the good of being smart
When others do not do their part?
If Blacky the Crow didn't say this to himself, he thought it. He
knew that he had made a very cunning plan to get the eggs of Hooty
the Owl, a plan so shrewd and cunning that no one else in the Green
Forest or on the Green Meadows would have thought of it. There was
only one weakness in it, and that was that it depended for success
on having Hooty the Owl do as he usually did when tormented by a
crowd of noisy Crows, -- stay where he was until they got tired and
flew away.
Now Blacky sometimes makes a mistake that smart people are very apt
to make; he thinks that because he is so smart, other people are
stupid. That is where he proves that smart as he is, he isn't as
smart as he thinks he is. He always thought of Hooty the Owl as
stupid. That is, he always thought of him that way in daytime. At
night, when he was waked out of a sound sleep by the fierce hunting
cry of Hooty, he wasn't so sure about Hooty being stupid, and he
always took care to sit perfectly still in the darkness, lest
Hooty's great ears should hear him and
Hooty's great eyes, made for seeing in the dark, should find
him. No, in the night Blacky was not at all sure that Hooty was
stupid.
But in the daytime he was sure. You see, he quite forgot the fact
that the brightness of day is to Hooty what the blackness of night
is to him. So, because Hooty would simply sit still and hiss and
snap his bill, instead of trying to catch his tormentors or flying
away, Blacky called him stupid. He felt sure that Hooty would stay
right where he was now, and he hoped that Mrs. Hooty would lose her
temper and leave the nest where she was sitting on those two eggs
and join Hooty to help him try to drive away that noisy crew.
But Hooty isn't stupid. Not a bit of it. The minute he found out
that Blacky and his friends had discovered him, he thought of
Mrs. Hooty and the two precious eggs in the old nest of Redtail the
Hawk close by.
"Mrs. Hooty mustn't be disturbed, " thought he. "That will never do
at all. I must lead these black rascals away where they won't
discover Mrs. Hooty. I certainly must."
So he spread his broad wings and blundered away among the trees a
little way. He didn't fly far because the instant he started to fly
that whole noisy crew with the exception of Blacky were after
him. Because he couldn't use his claws or bill while flying, they
grew bold enough to pull a few feathers out of his back. So he flew
only a little way to a thick hemlock-tree, where it wasn't easy for
the Crows to get at him, and where the light didn't hurt his eyes so
much. There he rested a few minutes and then did the same thing over
again. He meant to lead those bothersome Crows into the darkest part
of the Green Forest and there -- well, he could see better there,
and it might be that one of them would be careless enough to come
within reach. No, Hooty wasn't stupid. Certainly not.
Blacky awoke to that fact as he sat in the top of a tall pine-tree
silently watching. He could see Mrs. Hooty on the nest, and as the
noise of Hooty's tormentors sounded from farther and farther away,
she settled herself more comfortably and closed her eyes. Blacky
could imagine that she was smiling to herself. It was clear that she
had no intention of going to help Hooty. His splendid plan had
failed just because stupid Hooty, who wasn't stupid at all, had
flown away when he ought to have sat still. It was very provoking.
CHAPTER VII: Blacky Tries Another Plan
When one plan fails, just try another;
Declare you'll win some way or other.
People who succeed are those who do not give up because they fail
the first time they try. They are the ones who, as soon as one plan
fails, get busy right away and think of another plan and try
that. If the thing they are trying to do is a good thing, sooner or
later they succeed. If they are trying to do a wrong thing, very
likely all their plans fail, as they should.
Now Blacky the Crow knows all about the value of trying and
trying. He isn't easily discouraged. Sometimes it is a pity that he
isn't, because he plans so much mischief. But the fact remains that
he isn't, and he tries and tries until he cannot think of another
plan and just has to give up. When he invited all his relatives to
join him in tormenting Hooty the Owl, he thought he had a plan that
just couldn't fail. He felt sure that Mrs. Hooty would leave her
nest and help Hooty try to drive away his tormentors. But Mrs. Hooty
didn't do anything of the kind, because Hooty was smart enough and
thoughtful enough to lead his tormentors away from the nest into the
darkest part of the Green Forest where their noise wouldn't bother
Mrs. Hooty. So she just settled herself more comfortably than ever
on those eggs which Blacky had hoped she would give him a chance to
steal, and his fine plan was quite upset.
Not one of his relatives had noticed that nest. They had been too
busy teasing Hooty. This was just as Blacky had hoped. He didn't
want them to know about that nest because he was selfish and wanted
to get those eggs just for himself alone. But now he knew that the
only way he could get Mrs. Hooty off of them would be by teasing her
so that she would lose her temper and try to catch some of her
tormentors. If she did that, there would be a chance that he might
slip in and get at least one of those eggs.
He would try it.
For a few minutes he listened to the noise of his relatives growing
fainter and fainter, as Hooty led them farther and farther into the
Green Forest. Then he opened his mouth.
"Caw, caw, caw, caw!" he screamed. "Caw, caw, caw, caw! Come back,
everybody! Here is Mrs. Hooty on her nest! Caw, caw, caw, caw!"
Now as soon as they heard that, all Blacky's relatives stopped
chasing and tormenting Hooty and started back as fast as they could
fly. They didn't like the dark part of the Green Forest into which
Hooty was leading them. Besides, they wanted to see that nest. So
back they came, cawing at the top of their lungs, for they were very
much excited. Some of them never had seen a nest of Hooty's. And
anyway, it would be just as much fun to tease Mrs. Hooty as it was
to tease Hooty.
"Where is the nest?" they screamed, as they came back to where
Blacky was cawing and pretending to be very much excited.
"Why, " exclaimed one, "that is the old nest of Redtail the Hawk. I
know all about that nest. " And he looked at Blacky as if he thought
Blacky was playing a joke on them.
"It was Redtail's, but it is Hooty's now. If you don't believe me,
just look in it, " retorted Blacky.
