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We have more than a few of these birds in our neck of the woods. We wonder if their song were a bit sweeter to the ear that we might like them around a bit more. Doubtful but possible although since they are omnivores (think: eat anything they can get their beaks around) they do a lot of good; that fine line between cleaning up and scavenging.
We learned today that a group of crows is called a flock but also that it once was called a "murder" as in a murder of crows. It is somewhat poetic but a distinction without a difference.
We were intrigued so we looked it up in the dictionary - (the last place anyone ever looks):
crow 1 (kr)
n.
1. Any of several large glossy black birds of the genus Corvus, having a characteristic raucous call, especially C. brachyrhynchos of North America.
2. A crowbar.
Idiom:
as the crow flies
In a straight line.
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[Middle English croue, from Old English crwe; see ger-2 in Indo-European roots. Sense 2, from the resemblance of its forked end to a crow's foot or beak.]
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crow 2 (kr)
intr.v. crowed, crow·ing, crows
1. To utter the shrill cry characteristic of a cock or rooster.
2. To exult loudly, as over another's defeat; boast. See Synonyms at boast1.
3. To make a sound expressive of pleasure or well-being, characteristic of an infant.
n.
1. The shrill cry of a cock.
2. An inarticulate sound expressive of pleasure or delight.
Well now we are getting somewhere!
If you don't get the point of this little ramble, it is that there are crows that fly and there are folks who crow. Both travel in flocks and the noun/adjective "murders" is apropos to both. They also make a great deal of unpleasant noise and are, to our ears, inarticulate.
Lessons learned. Case solved. Noted.
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