In a big fir-tree, whose branches reached nearly to the ground, he saw alarge gathering of the birds, who sat chattering and gossipingpleasantly together. So he flew down and joined them.
"Good morning, folks," he said; and his voice sounded to them like aharsh croak, because it had become much deeper in tone since he hadgrown to his full size.
The birds looked at him curiously, and one or two fluttered their wingsin a timid and nervous way; but none of them, little or big, thoughtbest to make any reply.
"Well," said Jim Crow, gruffly, "what's the matter with you fellows?Haven't you got tongues? You seemed to talk fast enough a minute ago."
"Excuse me," replied a bullfinch, in a dignified voice; "we haven't thehonor of your acquaintance. You are a stranger."
"My name's Jim Crow," he answered, "and I won't be a stranger long,because I'm going to live here."
They all looked grave at this speech, and a little thrush hopped fromone branch to another, and remarked:
"We haven't any crows here at all. If you want to find your own folksyou must go to some other place."
"What do I care about my own folks?" asked Jim, with a laugh that madethe little thrush shudder. "I prefer to live alone."
"Haven't you a mate?" asked a robin, speaking in a very polite tone.
"No; and I don't want any," said Jim Crow. "I'm going to live all bymyself. There's plenty of room in this forest, I guess."
"Certainly," replied the bullfinch. "There is plenty of room for you hereif you behave yourself and obey the laws."
"Who's going to make me?" he asked, angrily.
"Any decent person, even if he's a crow, is bound to respect the law,"answered the bullfinch, calmly.
Jim Crow was a little ashamed, for he didn't wish to acknowledge hewasn't decent. So he said:
"What are your laws?"
"The same as those in all other forests. You must respect the nests andthe property of all other birds, and not interfere with them whenthey're hunting for food. And you must warn your fellow-birds wheneverthere is danger, and assist them to protect their young from prowlingbeasts. If you obey these laws, and do not steal from or interfere withyour neighbors, you have a right to a nest in our forest."
"To be quite frank with you, though," said the robin, "we prefer yourroom to your company."
"I'm going to stay," said the crow. "I guess I'm as good as the rest ofyou; so you fellows just mind your own business and I'll mind mine."
With these words he left them, and when he had mounted to a positionabove the trees he saw that one tall, slim pine was higher than all therest, and that at its very top was a big deserted nest.
Chapter IVJim Crow Becomes a Robber
IT looked like a crow's nest to Jim, so he flew toward the pine tree andlit upon a branch close by. One glance told him that at some time itreally must have been the home of birds of his kind, who for some reasonhad abandoned it long ago. The nest was large and bulky, being made ofstrong sticks woven together with fine roots and grasses. It was roughoutside, but smooth inside, and when Jim Crow had kicked out the deadleaves and twigs that had fallen into it, he decided it was nearly asgood as new, and plenty good enough for a solitary crow like him to livein. So with his bill he made a mark on the nest, that every bird mightknow it belonged to him, and felt that at last he had found a home.
During the next few days he made several attempts to get acquainted withthe other birds, but they were cold and distant, though very polite tohim; and none of them seemed to care for his society.
No bird ever came near his nest, but he often flew down to the lowertrees and perched upon one or another of them, so gradually the birds ofthe forest got used to seeing him around, and paid very little attentionto his actions.
One day Mrs. Wren missed two brown eggs from her nest, and her littleheart was nearly broken with grief. It took the mocking bird and thebullfinch a whole afternoon to comfort her, while Mr. Wren hopped aroundin nearly as much distress as his wife. No animals had been seen in theforest who would do this evil thing, so no one could imagine who thethief might be.
Such an outrage was almost unknown in this pleasant forest, and it madeall the birds nervous and fearful. A few days later a still greaterhorror came upon them, for the helpless young children of Mrs. Linnetwere seized one morning from their nest, while their parents were absentin search of food, and were carried away bodily. Mr. Linnet declaredthat on his way back to his nest he had seen a big black monster leavingit, but had been too frightened to notice just what the creature lookedlike. But the lark, who had been up very early that morning, stated thathe had seen no one near that part of the forest except Jim Crow, who hadflown swiftly to his nest in the tall pine-tree.
This was enough to make all the birds look upon Jim Crow with gravesuspicion, and Robin Redbreast called a secret meeting of all the birdsto discuss the question and decide what must be done to preserve theirnests from the robber. Jim Crow was so much bigger and fiercer than anyof the others that none dared accuse him openly or venture to quarrelwith him; but they had a good friend living not far away who was notafraid of Jim Crow or any one else, so they finally decided to send forhim and ask his assistance.
The starling undertook to be the messenger, and as soon as the meetingwas over he flew away upon his errand.
"What were all you folks talking about?" asked the crow, flying down andalighting upon a limb near to those who had not yet left the place ofmeeting.
"We were talking about you," said the thrush, boldly; "and you wouldn'tcare at all to know what we said, Mister Jim Crow."
Jim looked a trifle guilty and ashamed at hearing this, but knowing theywere all afraid of him he burst out into a rude laugh.
"Caw! caw! caw!" he chuckled hoarsely; "what do I care what you sayabout me? But don't you get saucy, my pretty thrush, or your friendswill miss you some fine morning, and never see you again."
This awful threat made them all silent, for they remembered the fate ofpoor Mrs. Linnet's children, and very few of the birds now had any doubtbut that Jim Crow knew more about the death of those helpless littleones than he cared to tell.
Finding they would not talk with him, the crow flew back to his tree,where he sat sullenly perched upon a branch near his nest. And they werevery glad to get rid of him so easily.
Chapter VJim Crow Meets Policeman Blue Jay
NEXT morning Jim Crow woke up hungry, and as he sat lazily in his bignest, he remembered that he had seen four pretty brown eggs, speckledwith white, in the nest of the oriole that lived at the edge of theforest.
"Those eggs will taste very good for breakfast," he thought. "I'll go atonce and get them; and if old Mammy Oriole makes a fuss, I'll eat her,too."
He hopped out of his nest and on to a branch, and the first thing hissharp eye saw was a big and strange bird sitting upon the tree justopposite him and looking steadily in his direction.
Never having lived among other birds until now, the crow did not knowwhat kind of bird this was, but as he faced the new-comer he had a sortof shiver in his heart that warned him to beware an enemy. Indeed, itwas none other than the Blue Jay that had appeared so suddenly, and hehad arrived that morning because the starling had told him of the theftsthat had taken place, and the Blue Jay is well known as the policeman ofthe forest and a terror to all evil-doers.
In size he was nearly as big as Jim Crow himself, and he had a largecrest of feathers on the top of his head that made him look even morefierce--especially when he ruffled them up. His body was purplish bluecolor on the back and purplish gray below, and there was a collar ofblack feathers running all around his neck. But his wings and tail werea beautiful rich blue, as delightful in color as the sky on a fine Maymorning; so in personal appearance Policeman Blue Jay was much handsomerthan Jim Crow. But it was the sharp, stout beak that most alarmed thecrow, and had Jim been wiser he would have known that before him was themost deadly foe of his race, and that the greatest pleasure a Blue Jayfinds in life is to fight with and punish a crow.
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But Jim was not very wise; and so he imagined, after his first terrorhad passed away, that he could bully this bird as he had the others, andmake it fear him.
"Well, what are you doing here?" he called out, in his crossest voice,for he was anxious to get away and rob the oriole's nest.
The Blue Jay gave a scornful, chattering laugh as he answered:
"That's none of your business, Jim Crow."
"Take care!" warned the crow; "you'll be sorry if you don't treat mewith proper respect."
The Blue Jay winked solemnly, in a way that would have been very comicalto any observer other than the angry crow.
"Don't hurt me--please don't!" he said, fluttering on the branch as ifgreatly frightened. "My mother would feel dreadful bad if anythinghappened to me."
"Well, then, behave yourself," returned the crow, strutting proudlyalong a limb and flopping his broad wings in an impressive manner. Forhe was foolish enough to think he had made the other afraid.
But no sooner had he taken flight and soared into the air than the BlueJay darted at him like an arrow from a bow, and before Jim Crow couldturn to defend himself the bill of his enemy struck him full in thebreast. Then, with a shriek of shrill laughter, the policeman dartedaway and disappeared in the forest, leaving the crow to whirl around inthe air once or twice and then sink slowly down, with some of his owntorn feathers floating near him as witnesses to his defeat.
The attack had dazed and astonished him beyond measure; but he found hewas not much hurt, after all. Crows are tougher than most birds. Jimmanaged to reach one of the brooks, where he bathed his breast in thecool water, and soon he felt much refreshed and more like his old selfagain.
But he decided not to go to the oriole's nest that morning, but tosearch for grabs and beetles amongst the mosses beneath the oak-trees.
Chapter VIJim Crow Fools the Policeman
FROM that time on Policeman Blue Jay made his home in the forest,keeping a sharp eye upon the actions of Jim Crow. And one day he flewaway to the southward and returned with Mrs. Blue Jay, who was even morebeautiful than her mate. Together they built a fine nest in a tree thatstood near to the crow's tall pine, and soon after they had settled downto housekeeping Mrs. Blue Jay began to lay eggs of a pretty brown colormottled with darker brown specks.
Had Jim Crow known what was best for him he would have flown away fromthis forest and found himself a new home. Within a short flight weremany bits of woodland where a crow might get a good living and not bebothered by blue jays. But Jim was obstinate and foolish, and had madeup his mind that he never would again be happy until he had beenrevenged upon his enemy.
He dared no longer rob the nests so boldly as he had before, so hebecame sly and cunning. He soon found out that the Blue Jay could notfly as high as he could, nor as fast; so, if he kept a sharp lookout forthe approach of his foe, he had no trouble in escaping. But if he wentnear to the nests of the smaller birds, there was the blue policemanstanding guard, and ready and anxious to fight at a moment's notice. Itwas really no place for a robber at all, unless the robber was clever.
One day Jim Crow discovered a chalkpit among the rocks at the north ofthe forest, just beyond the edge of trees. The chalk was soft and insome places crumbled to a fine powder, so that when he had rolledhimself for a few minutes in the dust all his feathers became as whiteas snow. This fact gave to Jim Crow a bright idea. No longer black, butwhite as a dove, he flew away to the forest and passed right byPoliceman Blue Jay, who only noticed that a big white bird had flownamongst the trees, and did not suspect it was the thieving crow in aclever disguise.
Jim found a robin's nest that was not protected, both the robin and hiswife being away in search of food. So he ate up the eggs and kicked thenest to pieces and then flew away again, passing the Blue Jay a secondtime all unnoticed.
When he reached a brook he washed all the chalk away from his feathersand then returned to his nest as black as ever.
All the birds were angry and dismayed when they found what had happened,but none could imagine who had robbed the robins. Mrs. Robin, who wasnot easily discouraged, built another nest and laid more eggs in it; butthe next day a second nest in the forest was robbed, and then anotherand another, until the birds complained that Policeman Blue Jay did notprotect them at all.
"I can't understand it in the least," said the policeman, "for I havewatched carefully, and I know Jim Crow has never dared to come near toyour trees."
"Then some one else is the robber," declared the thrush fussily.
"The only stranger I have noticed around here is a big white bird,"replied the Blue Jay, "and white birds never rob nests or eat eggs, asyou all know very well."
So they were no nearer the truth than before, and the thefts continued;for each day Jim Crow would make himself white in the chalk-pit, flyinto the forest and destroy the precious eggs of some innocent littlebird, and afterward wash himself in some far-away brook, and return tohis nest chuckling with glee to think he had fooled the Blue Jay sonicely.
But the Blue Jay, although stupid and unsuspecting at first, presentlybegan to get a little wisdom. He remembered that all this trouble hadcommenced when the strange white bird first arrived in the forest; andalthough it was doubtless true that white birds never eat eggs and havehonest reputations, he decided to watch this stranger and make sure thatit was innocent of the frightful crimes that had so aroused the dwellersin the forest.
Chapter VIIJim Crow is Punished
SO one day Policeman Blue Jay hid himself in some thick bushes until hesaw the big white bird fly by, and then he followed quietly after it,flitting from tree to tree and keeping out of sight as much as possible,until at last he saw the white bird alight near a bullfinch's nest andeat up all the eggs it contained.
Then, ruffling his crest angrily, Policeman Blue Jay flew to attack thebig white robber, and was astonished to find he could not catch it. Forthe white bird flew higher into the air than he could, and also flewmuch faster, so that it soon escaped and passed out of sight.
"It must be a white crow," thought the Blue Jay; "for only a crow canbeat me at flying, and some of that race are said to be white, althoughI have never seen one."
So he called together all the birds, and told them what he had seen, andthey all agreed to hide themselves the next day and lie in wait for thethief.
By this time Jim Crow thought himself perfectly safe, and success hadmade him as bold as he was wicked. Therefore he suspected nothing when,after rolling himself in the chalk, he flew down the next day into theforest to feast upon birds' eggs. He soon came to a pretty nest, and wasjust about to rob it, when a chorus of shrill cries arose on every sideof him and hundreds, of birds--so many that they quite filled the air--flew straight at the white one, pecking him with their bills andstriking him with their wings; for anger had made even the most timid ofthe little birds fierce, and there were so many of them that they gaveeach other courage.
Jim Crow tried to escape, but whichever way he might fly his foesclustered all around him, getting in his way so that he could not usehis big wings properly. And all the time they were pecking at him andfighting him as hard as they could. Also, the chalk was brushed from hisfeathers, by degrees, and soon the birds were able to recognize theirold enemy the crow, and then, indeed, they became more furious thanever.
Policeman Blue Jay was especially angry at the deception practiced uponhim, and if he could have got at the crow just then he would have killedit instantly. But the little birds were all in his way, so he was forcedto hold aloof.
Filled with terror and smarting with pain, Jim Crow had only onethought: to get to the shelter of his nest in the pine-tree. In some wayhe managed to do this, and to sink exhausted into the hollow of hisnest. But many of his enemies followed him, and although the thickfeathers of his back and wings protected his body, Jim's head and eyeswere at the mercy of the sharp bills of the vengeful birds.
When at last they left him, thinking he had been sufficiently punished,Jim Crow
was as nearly dead as a bird could be. But crows are tough, andthis one was unlucky enough to remain alive. For when his wounds hadhealed he had become totally blind, and day after day he sat in hisnest, helpless and alone, and dared not leave it.
Chapter VIIIJim Crow Has Time to Repent His Sins
"WHERE are you going, my dear?" asked the Blue Jay of his wife.
"I'm going to carry some grubs to Jim Crow," she answered. "I'll be backin a minute."
"Jim Crow is a robber and a murderer!" said the policeman, harshly.
"I know," she replied, in a sweet voice; "but he is blind."
"Well, fly along," said her husband; "but hurry back again."
And the robin-redbreast and his wife filled a cup-shaped flower withwater from the brook, and then carried it in their bills to thepine-tree, without spilling a drop.
"Where are you going?" asked the oriole, as they passed.
"We're just taking some water to Jim Crow," replied Mrs. Robin.
"He's a thief and a scoundrel!" cried the oriole, indignantly.
"That is true." said Mrs. Robin, in a soft, pitiful voice; "but he isblind."
"Let me help you." exclaimed the oriole. "I'll carry this side of thecup, so it can't tip."
So Jim Crow, blind and helpless, sat in his nest day after day and weekafter week, while the little birds he had so cruelly wronged brought himfood and water and cared for him as generously as they could.
And I wonder what his thoughts were--don't you?