I wish we would get a murder of crows here, nesting in our trees. As many of you know, they are my favorite, smarty-smarty bird. Whenever I think of a murder of crows, though, I think of some dark, back alley, with them in their dark overcoats and fedoras, smoking cigars.
How they got the name “murder” for a group of them is up for speculation. Most of the leading explanations are based on old folk tales and superstitions. For instance, there is a folktale that crows will gather and decide the final fate of another crow. This one is bunk. They gather alright, but mostly to party.
Some cultures view the appearance of crows as an omen of death. This is based on the natural behavior of these birds. Ravens and crows are scavengers and are generally associated with dead bodies. They tend to gather where something is dead or about to die.
But really, the term “murder of crows” reflects a time, long ago, when people were naming things and giving themselves poetic license. Colorful naming schemes. For example, besides the murder of crows, there is an ostentation of peacocks, a parliament of owls, a knot of frogs, and a skulk of foxes. Or perhaps, a cauldron of bats, a clutter of cats, or a coalition of cheetahs. But I’m not here to talk about the others.
Crows. Their brains are the largest of any bird, and their body-to-brain ratio is the same as the chimpanzee. Which also means it is very near to the human size ratio.
They use tools. They have great memories. Crows mate for life. They are excellent thieves.
We have had one lone crow here. I think there is a flock nesting at a nearby farm and this one, an introvert like myself, comes to our corn feeders in the morning. I’ve put out two plates of bobbles for her or him. The bobbles are a mix of things including sparkling little gemstones, and small gold earrings, as well as some other shiny objects. Crows like sparklies. I’m not sure if any bobbles are missing yet.
I really didn’t mean to write about crows either, but about their very-near neighbor, the raven. Here is the thing. Crows are pretty large. But ravens are humongous. The raven has a 4-foot wingspan and is around 27 inches from head to tail. The crow has a 2.5-foot wingspan and is about 17 inches long. The raven weighs around 40 ounces while the crow is 20 ounces, obviously half the weight of a raven. So. The raven is the same size as a red-tailed hawk. No wonder Edgar Allen Poe was writing about them all the time.
Anyway, I was thinking about ravens because I just learned about a feathery dude who was named Jimmy the Raven. I was watching an old movie the other day called The Bride Came COD, with Jimmy Cagney and Bette Davis. And there was the glorious raven in the film for all to see. I found out the raven in the movie was Jimmy the Raven, aka, Jimmy the Crow.
You may know him already. Or perhaps you do, and you don’t know it. He was in A Wonderful Life, with Jimmy Stewart. The crazy uncle’s pet. And he was the star of The Wizard of Oz. Well, in my eyes, he was. He was also in You Can’t Take It With You. And many, many other films of yore. More than 1,000 feature films in all.
He truly was a common raven and not a crow, hatched in 1934. Or thereabouts, in the Mojave Desert. And he died sometime after 1954.
A talented bird. He could type, open letters, and doors. He did some motorcycle riding too. Jimmy could understand several hundred words. And. His owner was a guy named Curly Twiford. He is the one who found him in a nest in the Mojave.
Jimmy the Crow worked for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. They had Jimmy insured for $10,000, and Lloyd’s of London wrote that policy. Our boy Jimmy earned $500 a week, as well as Curly Twiford’s $200 handler fee.
I’m not sure how or when Jimmy died. Or Curly for that matter. Curly Twiford passed away on April 5, 1956, at the age of 60.
But the legend of Jimmy will live on forever.
And yes. Some things in this Universe do live on forever. As sure as the crow flies.
============
“The truth about forever is that it is happening right now”
― Sarah Dessen, The Truth About Forever
============
“For the Present is the point at which time touches eternity.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters
=============
“The Universe is very, very big.
It also loves a paradox. For example, it has some extremely strict rules.
Rule number one: Nothing lasts forever.
Not you or your family or your house or your planet or the sun. It is an absolute rule. Therefore when someone says that their love will never die, it means that their love is not real, for everything that is real dies.
Rule number two: Everything lasts forever.”
― Craig Ferguson, Between the Bridge and the River
=============
