TENDER CROW

Crows have been all sorts of things to all sorts of people. They represent death in some cultures (Irish). It is believed that they (raven) protect the fortunes of Britain  at the Tower of London. In the Nordic myth crows fly around in the sky and bring information to Odin much like the modern-day American drones do. Closer home in India they are considered ancestors and hence the practice of feeding them during the annual tributes to one's ancestors (sraaddha). Almost every civilization which has seen crows incorporates them in its mythology. Perhaps this is a tribute to the bird's ability to adapt and survive.

They are considered to be quite clever and are known to use tools, and even create tools for their use, the New Caledonian variety topping the list. New research suggests that they can recognize human faces. Tamil folklore has it that their crowing presages imminent visitors - do they see new faces heading this way or just guess that all that delicious aroma of cooking couldn't possibly be for the regular members of the family?. Crows apparently top the avian IQ list. I wouldn't be surprised if they even have their own MENSA club. But for all their intelligence, they fledge Cuckoos until the latter exercise their vocal chords and thus get kicked out. So much for crows' ability to count - how else could they leave 3 eggs in their nest and come back to find 5? The intelligence of crows may be a tad overstated. On the other hand, I have personally experienced consternation and alarm amongst roosting crows in the middle of the night before I felt the earth tremble. May be they can sense earth tremor long before we humans can, but them taking SATs is still some way off.

Crows have one of the most bizarre collective nouns, "murder of crows" which is a staple in many a quiz. It is even more bizarre than "a parliament of owls" (I would say that that collective noun is more appropriate to asses, at least in India) or a "clowder of cats". Something to do with their perceived behaviour of gathering together to punish one of them with death. Sounds like a "khap panchayat"  to me. In no way are they to be considered a murderous species, although they are not above eating one of their own or a struggling fledgling of another species.

Crows are often held up as examples of communal sharing of food. Apparently they call to collect  their clan together when they spot food; however there is no evidence of their ability to call collect (I suspect  there is more than altruism at work here; they seems to know that in numbers there is safety). But such social behaviour is anathema to the American right for whom being  social is only slightly less abhorrent than being a socialist which tops their list of All-time Top Ten Sins. It would seem that Americans are not fond of crows judging by the phrase Jim Crow. I guess crows being black does not help matters.

I am not sure if white (but social) crows might evoke less violent emotions in America (as against black and social which certainly doesn't). A "white crow" has an interesting connotation in Tamil. "Showing someone a white crow" means, in Tamil, selling an improbable dream. My brother, when he was still in primary school, earned the life-long enmity of a porter in a nearby railway station doing precisely that. The said porter was used by visiting family which had to make a trek of a mile and a half from the station to reach my grandfather's place where everyone gathered for the summer vacations - those were the days before strolley bags and there were few taxis in the suburbs. The porter would pile flat pieces of luggage on his head and grab a bag in each arm for good measure. He was a strong fellow but a bit simple minded. Once when he was thus laden, my brother pointed up at the sky and cried "look, white crows". The simple fellow looked up with predictable consequence. From that day my brother had to take a long detour whenever he had to pass by that station.

Intelligent they may be, social they are, and even murderous if you believe some. But loved they are not. Despite the useful role they play. They clear up much of the waste humans produce, especially in a land like India. It was easier when the waste was all organic. With plastic waste exceeding organic ones the crows' job is getting well-nigh impossible. My father, who knows such things, says that presence crows is an indicator of human pollution. As evidence he cites the fact that the crows are now in plentiful supply in hill-towns like Ooty, Kodai or Shimla where they were not seen a generation ago. It seems that they see humans as an easy source of food and merely follow them. They seem to adapt to the cool weather very well and appear smart enough to come down to the plains - on the rain shadow side of the hills - when the rains start.

Crows are not admired. They are the universal example of something that is ugly. In Tamilian matrimonial discussions reference to crows is a signal that the groom is distinctly ugly and only enormous quantity of wealth could compensate for it. Where prospective brides are concerned, reference to crows is the kiss of death, blighting her chances of marital bliss for ever. A left handed compliment to maternal love in Tamil has it that even crows consider their fledglings golden.  In other words don't be fooled by a mother trumpeting her son's virtues; she would, wouldn't she?

Pigeons and doves are the emissaries of love, swans are the surrogates for the beloved and high-flying geese are enjoined to carry the lover's message to the loved one over the mountains and long distances. No place for crows in romantic poetry. Are they romantic themselves? They are not known to pair-bond for life, nor is their romance, if there is such a thing, the stuff of poetic imagination. But today I saw two of them in a tender scene. Looking out of my window I spied two crows on the branch of a neem tree: one was bending its neck in a question mark, looking down. The other was tenderly grooming  the back of former's neck. I would like to believe that they were male and female. If not, then I can only say that they have gotten more than food from us humans....