Blacky the Crow

by Thornton W. Burgess

  But in the daytime he was sure. You see, he quite forgot the fact thatthe 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 calledhim 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 nestwhere she was sitting on those two eggs and join Hooty to help him tryto drive away that noisy crew.

  But Hooty isn't stupid. Not a bit of it. The minute he found out thatBlacky and his friends had discovered him, he thought of Mrs. Hooty andthe 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 atall. 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 littleway. He didn't fly far because the instant he started to fly that wholenoisy crew with the exception of Blacky were after him. Because hecouldn't use his claws or bill while flying, they grew bold enough topull a few feathers out of his back. So he flew only a little way to athick 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 fewminutes and then did the same thing over again. He meant to leadthose bothersome Crows into the darkest part of the Green Forest andthere--well, he could see better there, and it might be that one of themwould 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-treesilently watching. He could see Mrs. Hooty on the nest, and as the noiseof Hooty's tormentors sounded from farther and farther away, she settledherself more comfortably and closed her eyes. Blacky could imagine thatshe was smiling to herself. It was clear that she had no intention ofgoing to help Hooty. His splendid plan had failed just because stupidHooty, who wasn't stupid at all, had flown away when he ought to havesat 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 thefirst 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 thingthey are trying to do is a good thing, sooner or later they succeed. Ifthey 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. Heisn't easily discouraged. Sometimes it is a pity that he isn't, becausehe plans so much mischief. But the fact remains that he isn't, and hetries and tries until he cannot think of another plan and just has togive up. When he invited all his relatives to join him in tormentingHooty the Owl, he thought he had a plan that just couldn't fail. He feltsure that Mrs. Hooty would leave her nest and help Hooty try to driveaway his tormentors. But Mrs. Hooty didn't do anything of the kind,because Hooty was smart enough and thoughtful enough to lead histormentors away from the nest into the darkest part of the Green Forestwhere their noise wouldn't bother Mrs. Hooty. So she just settledherself more comfortably than ever on those eggs which Blacky had hopedshe 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 busyteasing Hooty. This was just as Blacky had hoped. He didn't want them toknow about that nest because he was selfish and wanted to get those eggsjust for himself alone. But now he knew that the only way he could getMrs. Hooty off of them would be by teasing her so that she would loseher 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 ofthose eggs.

  He would try it.

  For a few minutes he listened to the noise of his relatives growingfainter and fainter, as Hooty led them farther and farther into theGreen 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 chasingand tormenting Hooty and started back as fast as they could fly. Theydidn't like the dark part of the Green Forest into which Hooty wasleading 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. Someof them never had seen a nest of Hooty's. And anyway, it would be justas much fun to tease Mrs. Hooty as it was to tease Hooty.

  "Where is the nest?" they screamed, as they came back to where Blackywas cawing and pretending to be very much excited.

  "Why," exclaimed one, "that is the old nest of Redtail the Hawk. I knowall about that nest." And he looked at Blacky as if he thought Blackywas playing a joke on them.

  "It was Redtail's, but it is Hooty's now. If you don't believe me, justlook in it," retorted Blacky.

  At once they all began to fly over the top of the tree where they couldlook down into the nest and there, sure enough, was Mrs. Hooty, hergreat, round, yellow eyes glaring up at them angrily. Such a racket!Right away Hooty was forgotten, and the whole crowd at once began totorment Mrs. Hooty. Only Blacky sat watchful and silent, waiting forMrs. Hooty to lose her temper and try to catch one of her tormentors. Hehad hope, a great hope, that he would get one of those eggs.

  CHAPTER VIII: Hooty Comes To Mrs. Hooty's Aid

  No one can live just for self alone. A lot of people think they can,but they are very much mistaken. They are making one of the greatestmistakes in the world. Every teeny, weeny act, no matter what it is,affects somebody else. That is one of Old Mother Nature's great laws.And it is just as true among the little people of the Green Forest andthe Green Meadows as with boys and girls and grown people. It is OldMother Nature's way of making each of us responsible for the good of alland of teaching us that always we should help each other.

  As you know, when Blacky the Crow called all his relatives over to thenest where Mrs. Hooty was sitting on her eggs, they at once stoppedtormenting Hooty and left him alone in a thick hemlock-tree in thedarkest part of the Green Forest. Of course Hooty was very, very gladto be left in peace, and he might have spent the rest of the day theresleeping in comfort. But he didn't. No, Sir, he didn't. At first he gavea great sigh of relief and settled himself as if he meant to stay. Helistened to the voices of those noisy Crows growing fainter and fainterand was glad. But it was only for a few minutes.

  Presently those voices stopped growing fainter. They grew moreexcited-sounding than ever, and they came right from one place. Hootyknew then that his tormentors had found the nest where Mrs. Hooty was,and that they were tormenting her just as they had tormented him. Hesnapped his bill angrily and then more angrily.

  "I guess Mrs. Hooty is quite able to take care of herself," hegrumbled, "but she ought not to be disturbed while she is sitting onthose eggs. I hate to go back there in that bright sunshine. It hurts myeyes, and I don't like it, but I guess I'll have to go back there. Mrs.Hooty needs my help. I'd rather stay here, but--"

  He didn't finish. Instead, he spread his broad wings and flew backtowards the nest and Mrs. Hooty. His great wings made no noise, for theyare made so that he can fly without making a sound. "If I once get holdof one of those Crows!" he muttered to himself. "If I once get hold ofone of those Crows, I'll--" He didn't say what he would do, but ifyou had been near enough to hear the snap of his bill, you could haveguessed the rest.

  All this time the Crows were having what they called fun with Mrs.Hooty. Nothing is true fun which makes others uncomfortable, but somehowa great many people seem to forget this. So, while Blacky sat watching,his relatives made a tremendous racket around Mrs. Hooty, and the moreangry she grew, the more they screamed and called her names and darteddown almost in her face, as they pretended that they were going to fighther. They were so busy doing this, and Blacky was so busy watching them,hoping that Mrs. Hooty
would leave her nest and give him a chance tosteal the eggs he knew were under her, that no one gave Hooty a thought.

  All of a sudden he was there, right in the tree close to the nest! Noone had heard a sound, but there he was, and in the claws of one foot heheld the tail feathers of one of Blacky's relatives. It was lucky, verylucky indeed for that one that the sun was in Hooty's eyes and so he hadmissed his aim. Otherwise there would have been one less Crow.

  Now it is one thing to tease one lone Owl and quite another to tease twotogether. Besides, there were those black tail feathers floating downto the snow-covered ground. Quite suddenly those Crows decided that theyhad had fun enough for one day, and in spite of all Blacky could doto stop them, away they flew, cawing loudly and talking it all overnoisily. Blacky was the last to go, and his heart was sorrowful. Howevercould he get those eggs?

  CHAPTER IX: Blacky Thinks Of Farmer Brown's Boy

  "Such luck!" grumbled Blacky, as he flew over to his favorite tree to doa little thinking. "Such luck! Now all my neighbors know about the nestof Hooty the Owl, and sooner or later one of them will find out thatthere are eggs in it. There is one thing about it, though, and thatis that if I can't get them, nobody can. That is to say, none of myrelatives can. I've tried every way I can think of, and those eggs arestill there. My, my, my, how I would like one of them right now!"

  Then Blacky the Crow did a thing which disappointed scamps oftendo,--began to blame the ones he was trying to wrong because his planshad failed. To have heard him talking to himself, you would havesupposed that those eggs really belonged to him and that Hooty and Mrs.Hooty had cheated him out of them. Yes, Sir, that is what you would havethought if you could have heard him muttering to himself there in thetree-top. In his disappointment over not getting those eggs, he wasso sorry for himself that he actually did feel that he was the onewronged,--that Hooty and Mrs. Hooty should have let him have those eggs.

  Of course, that was absolute foolishness, but he made himself believeit just the same. At least, he pretended to believe it. And the more hepretended, the angrier he grew. This is often the way with people whotry to wrong others. They grow angry with the ones they have tried towrong. When at last Blacky had to confess to himself that he could thinkof no other way to get those eggs, he began to wonder if there was someway to make trouble for Hooty and Mrs. Hooty. It was right then that hethought of Farmer Brown's boy. Blacky's eyes snapped. He remembered how,once upon a time, Farmer Brown's boy had delighted to rob nests. Blackyhad seen him take the eggs from the nests of Blacky's own relatives andfrom many other feathered people. What he did with the eggs, Blacky hadno idea. Just now he didn't care. If Farmer Brown's boy would justhappen to find Hooty's nest, he would be sure to take those eggs, andthen he, Blacky, would feel better. He would feel that he was even withHooty.

  Right away he began to try to think of some way to bring Farmer Brown'sboy over to the lonesome corner of the Green Forest where Hooty's nestwas. If he could once get him there, he felt sure that Farmer Brown'sboy would see the nest and climb up to it, and then of course he wouldtake the eggs. If he couldn't have those eggs himself, the next bestthing would be to see some one else get them.

  Dear me, dear me, such dreadful thoughts! I am afraid that Blacky'sheart was as black as his coat. And the worst of it was, he seemed toget a lot of pleasure in his wicked plans. Now right down in his hearthe knew that they were wicked plans, but he tried to make excuses tohimself.

  "Hooty the Owl is a robber," said he. "Everybody is afraid of him.He lives on other people, and so far as I know he does no good in theworld. He is big and fierce, and no one loves him. The Green Forestwould be better off without him. If those eggs hatch, there will belittle Owls to be fed, and they will grow up into big fierce Owls, liketheir father and mother. So if I show Farmer Brown's boy that nest andhe takes those eggs, I will be doing a kindness to my neighbors."

  So Blacky talked to himself and tried to hush the still, small voicedown inside that tried to tell him that what he was planning to do wasreally a dreadful thing. And all the time he watched for Farmer Brown'sboy.

  CHAPTER X: Farmer Brown's Boy And Hooty

  Farmer Brown's boy had taken it into his head to visit the Green Forest.It was partly because he hadn't anything else to do, and it was partlybecause now that it was very near the end of winter he wanted to see howthings were there and if there were any signs of the coming of spring.Blacky the Crow saw him coming, and Blacky chuckled to himself. He hadwatched every day for a week for just this thing. Now he would tellFarmer Brown's boy about that nest of Hooty the Owl.

  He flew over to the lonesome corner of the Green Forest where Hooty andMrs. Hooty had made their home and at once began to caw at the top ofhis voice and pretend that he was terribly excited over something.

  "Caw, caw, caw, caw, caw!" shouted Blacky. At once all his relativeswithin hearing hurried over to join him. They knew that he wastormenting Hooty, and they wanted to join in the fun. It wasn't longbefore there was a great racket going on over in that lonesome corner ofthe Green Forest.

  Of course Farmer Brown's boy heard it. He stopped and listened. "NowI wonder what Blacky and his friends have found this time," said he."Whenever they make a fuss like that, there is usually something to seethere. I believe I'll so over and have a look."

  So he turned in the direction of the lonesome corner of the GreenForest, and as he drew near, he moved very carefully, so as to see allthat he could without frightening the Crows. He knew that as soon asthey saw him, they would fly away, and that might alarm the one theywere tormenting, for he knew enough of Crow ways to know that when theywere making such a noise as they were now making, they were plaguingsome one.

  Blacky was the first to see him because he was watching for him. Buthe didn't say anything until Farmer Brown's boy was so near that hecouldn't help but see that nest and Hooty himself, sitting up verystraight and snapping his bill angrily at his tormentors. Then Blackygave the alarm, and at once all the Crows rose in the air and headed forthe Green Meadows, cawing at the top of their lungs. Blacky went withthem a little way. The first chance he got he dropped out of the flockand silently flew back to a place where he could see all that mighthappen at the nest of Hooty the Owl.

  When Farmer Brown's boy first caught sight of the nest and saw the Crowsdarting down toward it and acting so excited, he was puzzled.

  "That's an old nest of Red-tail the Hawk," thought he. "I found thatlast spring. Now what can there be there to excite those Crows so?"

  Then he caught sight of Hooty the Owl. "Ha, so that's it!" he exclaimed."Those scamps have discovered Hooty and have been having no end of funtormenting him. I wonder what he's doing there."

  He no longer tried to keep out of sight, but walked right up to thefoot of the tree, all the time looking up. Hooty saw him, but instead offlying away, he snapped his bill just as he had at the Crows and hissed.

  "That's funny," thought Farmer Brown's boy. "If I didn't know thatto be the old nest of Redtail the Hawk, and if it weren't still thetail-end of winter, I would think that was Hooty's nest."

  He walked in a circle around the tree, looking up. Suddenly he gave alittle start. Was that a tail sticking over the edge of the nest? Hefound a stick and threw it up. It struck the bottom of the nest, and outflew a great bird. It was Mrs. Hooty! Blacky the Crow chuckled.

  CHAPTER XI: Farmer Brown's Boy Is Tempted

  When you're tempted to do wrong Is the time to prove you're strong. Shut your eyes and clench each fist; It will help you to resist.

  When a bird is found sitting on a nest, it is a pretty sure sign thatthat nest holds something worth while. It is a sign that that bird hasset up housekeeping. So when Farmer Brown's boy discovered Mrs. Hootysitting so close on the old nest of Redtail the Hawk, in the mostlonesome corner of the Green Forest, he knew what it meant. Perhaps Ishould say that he knew what it ought to mean.

  It ought to mean that there were eggs in that nest.

  But it was hard for Farmer
Brown's boy to believe that. Why, springhad not come yet! There was still snow, and the Smiling Pool was stillcovered with ice. Who ever heard of birds nesting at this time of year?Certainly not Farmer Brown's boy. And yet Hooty the Owl and Mrs. Hootywere acting for all the world as feathered folks do act when they haveeggs and are afraid that something is going to happen to them. It wasvery puzzling.

  "That nest was built by Red-tail the Hawk, and it hasn't even beenrepaired," muttered Farmer Brown's boy, as he stared up at it. "IfHooty and his wife have taken it for their home, they are mighty poorhousekeepers. And if Mrs. Hooty has laid eggs this time of year, shemust be crazy. I suppose the way to find out is to climb up there. Itseems foolish, but I'm going to do it. Those Owls certainly act as ifthey are mighty anxious about something, and I'm going to find out whatit is."

  He looked at Hooty and Mrs. Hooty, at their hooked bills and greatclaws, and decided that he would take a stout stick along with him. Hehad no desire to feel these great claws. When he had found a stick tosuit him, he began to climb the tree. Hooty and Mrs. Hooty snapped theirbills and hissed fiercely. They drew nearer. Farmer Brown's boy kept awatchful eye on them. They looked so big and fierce that he was almosttempted to give up and leave them in peace. But he just had to find outif there was anything in that nest, so he kept on. As he drew near it,Mrs. Hooty swooped very near to him, and the snap of her bill made anugly sound. He held his stick ready to strike and kept on.