For some time now, we have been keeping an eye on a crows’ nest in one of the fir trees by the garage. We knew they had hatched some chicks, as we could hear them calling back and forth. Then just a couple of days ago, we found one chick dead. It appeared that it had been kicked out of the nest by its siblings. We found another chick sort of hobbling along on the ground, trying to get airborne. Marion fashioned a “make-up” nest using an old large flowerpot and filled it with pine needles and small branches. Using the step ladder, she placed it partway up the pine tree, grabbed the hobbler and put it in.
We checked the “make-up” nest later in the day, and it was empty. Marion, however, elected to leave the nest there, just in case. The next day, we found four chicks hobbling along in our yard. Not a good idea, as our dog Lady, being part bird-dog, would surely do away with them. Marion immediately gathered them up and placed them in the “make-up” nest while our dog was still inside the house.
The “parents” were sitting in nearby trees calling to their chicks, and the chicks were calling back. We realized that the parents were trying to get the chicks flying, but they were only “wingwalking” instead. They finally all got out of the pine tree and left our yard, and the last Marion saw of them, they were in the middle of the street in front of our house. Whenever a car was approaching, the parents would call out “caw,” but they didn’t make any sound when a truck approached. Oh, don’t worry; Marion didn’t get the joke either!
The chicks are obviously getting flying lessons. One adult bird is sitting in a tree calling the chicks and the other is trying to show them how to fly. The chicks flap their wings and get up off the ground, if only a foot or so, and then they crash to the ground on their breasts. When they try again, higher and higher they fly until they land on a tree branch, and the flying lessons are over, or so we thought. The chicks take off from the tree branch and crash-land on the street. “Caw, caw!” called the mom, no trucks. We assume that the chicks finally got the hang of it, because we haven’t seen them since yesterday.
A crow is a bird of the genus Corvus, to which the raven also belongs. There are about 40 or so different species of crow, three of which are found in Canada.
A flock of crows is called a “murder.” There are several different explanations for the origin of this term, mostly based on old folk tales and superstitions. For instance, there is a folktale that crows will gather and decide the capital fate of another crow. Many view the appearance of crows as an omen of death because ravens and crows are scavengers and are generally associated with dead bodies, battlefields, and cemeteries, and they’re thought to circle in large numbers above sites where animals or people are expected to soon die. But the term “murder of crows” mostly reflects a time when groupings of many animals had colourful and poetic names. Other fun examples of “flock or group” names include: ostentation of peacocks, parliament of owls, knot of frogs and skulk of foxes.
A flock is more than two, so then it must follow that a pair of crows is an attempted murder. And a nest of two adults and four chicks is a murder scene.
It appears to me that other flock or group names are very descriptive of most politicians. An ostentation of peacocks would be the politicians prancing around, much like Donald Trump. A parliament of owls is when they are in their government seats and just sit there and hoot. I cannot describe a knot of frogs without getting into trouble, so I’ll leave that one alone. A skulk of foxes, however, will have the politicians moving about in the shadows.
Lena was walking down the street to work when she saw a parrot on a perch outside a pet store. The parrot looked at her and said, "Hey lady, you are really ugly." Lena got furious and stormed past the bird! On the way home she saw the same parrot sitting on the same perch outside the store and the parrot said to her again, "Hey lady, you are really ugly." Lena got incredibly angry now! The next day she saw the same parrot and the parrot said to her, "Hey lady, you are really ugly." Lena got furious, stomped into the store, confronted the manager and threatened to sue the store for a lot of money and have the bird put down. The store manager said, "Please calm down lady," and promised the parrot wouldn't say that to her again. When Lena walked past the store after work the parrot said to her, "Hey lady." Lena stopped and said, "Yes?" and the bird said, "You know."
A few points to ponder:
If you get cheated by the Better Business Bureau, who do you complain to?;
In a country of free speech, why are there phone bills?;
How come there aren't B batteries?;
How do you know that honesty is the best policy until you have tried some of the others?;
Why is it that you must wait until night to call it a day?;
With respect to 7 Up, what happened to the first 6 "ups?”
