The three of them sat quietly watching the boys painting the barn.
The boys stopped painting to take a break. They came down their ladders
and put their paint buckets on the nearby picnic table. They tightly
sealed the paint bucket lids and went into the house.
"Look", said Moe, pointing
with his beak. "See that shiny thing hanging from the paint bucket? I'd
really like to have that shiny thing."
That shiny thing was, of course, the can opener the boys used to pry
open the paint bucket lids.
"No, no, Moe," said Joe. "Every time you fly off to steal something
shiny, it means trouble."
You see, some crows just love shiny things. I once saw a crow collect
tinsel from an old Christmas tree that was in the trash. All day he
gathered tinsel and flew with it to his nest. I'll bet he had the most
sparkling nest in the rookery. A rookery is the name of the place where
a big group of crows all live together. Back to the story.
Moe excitedly hopped up and down on the limb and waved his wings.
"I need that shiny thing. I'm gonna get it," he said, and flew off
over the meadow, swooping down on the picnic table and landing near the
paint buckets.
"Such a show-off," Chloe said in disgust. "He's headed for trouble,
Joe."
"Yeah, watch him, Chloe. I think this is going to be one of Moe's
most famous adventures."
Joe was right. Moe grabbed the shiny can opener that was tied to the
bucket in his beak. He began to pull on the opener, but it was tied too
tightly to the bucket. There was no way he could steal it. But Moe kept
pulling with all his might. That's when the bucket began to tip. The lid
popped off. The red paint came splashing out all over Moe's head.
Moe squawked
loudly and flew to the ground. He shook his head as hard as he could,
again and again, ruffling his feathers. He blinked his eyes and looked
up at Joe and Chloe in the tree.
Chloe was screaming, "I'm telling, I'm telling," and jumping up and
down.
Joe was doing his loudest crow-laughing, "Haw, haw, haw," and flapping
his wings.
What Joe saw was his brother, Moe, with a bright, red head. His beady,
black eyes were surrounded with paint. Moe flew up into the tree with
Joe and Chloe.
"Don't come near me," yelled Chloe, hopping to the end of a limb.
Joe couldn't stop laughing. "You are one kookie lookin' red-headed
crow, Moe."
Off in the distance, they heard their mother's cawing. It was more
like a long, high-pitched scream. Moe, Joe and Chloe saw her streaking
across the meadow towards them. Behind her, flapping wildly, was their
father.
"You don't have to tell on me, Chloe. They already know," said Moe.
"You're a dead duck, now. Woe is Moe," said Joe.
What followed was a real crow family squabble. Both Ma and Pa were
cawing at the same time. Joe was doing his non-stop "haw..haw" laughing,
and Chloe screamed on and on.
All this noise brought the rest of the curious crow clan flying towards
the troubled family from every direction. They landed in the trees around
Moe, Joe and Chloe and their parents. When the other crows saw Moe with
his red head, the noise of their cawing grew louder and louder.
Then, in a flash, all became total silence. From high above the trees,
the master of all the crow community, flew down and landed beside Moe.
The other crows drew back and waited for the wise, old Great-Grandfather
crow to speak.
"How did this happen to you," he asked Moe.
Moe told Great-Grandfather how he upset the paint bucket while trying
to steal the shiny thing. Everyone waited nervously as Great-Grandfather
crow strutted back and forth on the limb thinking.
Then he said, "You did not obey your parents, Moe. You tried to steal
the shiny thing, and now, with that ugly red head, you have disgraced the
whole rookery. We crows pride ourselves on our beautiful, black feathers,
and you look pitiful, just really pitiful. From now on you must go deep
into the woods and live by yourself. We do not want you in the rookery."
Moe told his parents he was sorry. His mother cried. His father just
shook his head. Chloe put her head under her wing and Joe hopped with Moe
to the end of the limb and watched him fly away toward the deep woods, his
red head shining in the sunlight.
But, that's not the end of the story. In the woods there was a nice,
little cabin owned by Abner Hornsby. Abner liked to spend his weekends at
his cabin. He loved the peace and quiet of the woods, and besides, his
hobby was bird watching.
There in the deep woods, he watched hundreds of birds with his binoculars.
Binoculars, in case you don't know, are special glasses you look through
that make everything far away appear to be very close.
Abner carefully wrote down the name of every bird and the date he saw
it. He was a member of the Bird Watchers Club and he had seen more
unusual birds than anyone else in the Club.
Abner was sitting on his front porch looking up into the treetops with
his binoculars. All at once he jumped to his feet and moved slowly down
his front path, whispering to himself, "My-oh-my-oh-my." He had spotted
Moe high in the treetops and what he saw he couldn't believe...a red-headed
crow.
Abner Hornsby knew he had discovered a rare bird...a red-headed crow.
He'd have to get his bird watching friends to see this bird as proof of
his discovery.
Knowing that crows love corn, Abner scattered dried corn in front of his
cabin hoping to coax this rare bird to the ground for a close-up look.
Then he hid on his porch all day waiting...waiting for the crow to come
down and eat.
When night came, he went into his cabin and didn't come out until
early morning. The corn was gone. Moe had eaten.
That day, Abner returned to town. The first thing he did was call his
bird watcher friends. He invited them to his cabin in the woods to see
his new discovery, this rare red-headed crow.
Every weekend Abner was visited by bird watchers from all over the
country. Many eyes peered through binoculars from beneath every tree,
watching Moe with his red head. Actually, Moe was enjoying himself. He
missed his family, though, and without them, he was bored and lonely.
With all these people hunting for him, it gave him something to do
and boosted his ego. He was proud of his red head. Now and then he would
caw just to watch them run and bump into each other trying to catch a
glimpse of him. He teased, and posed, and strutted about waving his red
head proudly.
Meanwhile, back at the rookery, Great-Grandfather crow had been watching
all these people going in and coming out of the woods. He decided to
fly over the woods. That was when he discovered everyone was looking at
Moe with his red head. Moe was a curiosity, and he was famous.
But, so was Abner famous for discovering Moe. No one could figure out
how this crow came to have a red head.
Word spread around the state and reached the Governor, who just happened
to be a bird watcher.
"I want to see this rare red-headed crow," he told his aides. "Prepare
a trip to this Abner Hornsby's cabin."
Now, when the Governor travels, many people travel with him, his
secretary, his many aides, newspaper and TV reporters and photographers.
It takes lots of time and planning for the Governor to travel.
Abner heard about the Governor's coming to visit. He was very excited
and he was worried that his red-headed crow might decide to fly away. He
constantly checked up on the crow.
It was while he was watching the bird, one day, that he found a bright,
red feather on the ground. Then, he found another and another. He picked
them up and looked at them with much interest. These feathers were not
like other bird feathers he had found. Something was wrong.
He ran his fingernail down one of the feathers. He was able to scrape
off a red substance. Then he realized what it was...red paint.
Abner's hands dropped to his sides. He hung his head in terrible
disappointment.
"I've been fooled," he said aloud to himself. "All this time we
have been seeing a crow with a red painted head. How could this have
happened? I will be laughed at and I will have to tell the Governor,
who is about to arrive to see this crow, that we have all been fooled."
Above in the treetop, Moe cawed at Abner. Moe was now fat and healthy
from a diet of dried corn and the crow snacks that everyone brought to him.
He wanted more snacks and cawed again at Abner.
Using his binoculars Abner looked up at Moe, whose red head was
streaked with black. This crow was moulting, as all birds do. He was
growing new feathers and losing his old feathers. His red head would
soon be gone.
For several days, Great-Grandfather crow had been watching Moe and Abner, and all the
people who had come to view this weird bird for several days. Great-Grandfather
saw three great, long limosines and other smaller cars drive down the
lane to the woods. He saw Abner waiting at the end of the lane, shoulders
sagging, head bowed.
A crowd of people poured from the cars and gathered around the Governor
and Abner.
Peeking, unseen from a nearby treetop, Moe watched, too.
"They've come to see ME," Moe said to himself, acting proud. He
ruffled his feathers and shook his head to look more beautiful. A shower
of feathers floated to the ground.
"Woops," said Moe. "I think I'm loosing it. The moulting season is
here for sure."
Abner and the Governor met each other. Everyone listened as he told
the Governor about the crow they all thought had a red head. He handed
the Governor a few red feathers, sighed sadly, and said one word, "Paint."
The Governor began to laugh. To Abner's surprise he laughed and
laughed. Everyone began to laugh.
"I never thought we'd all be fooled by a smart crow with a painted
head." He patted Abner on the shoulder and shook his hand. "It's alright,
Abner," he said. You'll always have this story to crow about."
Great-Grandfather crow watched the caravan of cars leave. He spied
Moe sitting woefully in the tree, itching his shedding red head with his
claw. He flew over and landed beside him.
Surprised to see Great-Grandfather, Moe did not know what to say.
But Great-Grandfather knew exactly what to say to Moe.
"You have caused great trouble, Moe. Your one foolish moment has
upset your family, the whole crow community, and many people. Now you
are beginning to moult and soon you will look like an ordinary crow
again. But, can you behave like one? Have you learned your lesson?"
Moe puffed himself up and tried to look good despite his silly black
and red head.
"Great-Grandfather," Moe said. "I am sorry for being stupid, and trying
to steal the shiny thing. I have missed my family and I am lonely and
sad without them. Please, let me go home," begged Moe.
"Alright," said Great-Grandfather. "You may fly back to the rookery
with me and you will be welcomed by your family, as well as the other
crows in the rookery. But just remember, you are still a sorry sight."
Great-Grandfather began to laugh looking at Moe. The two of them flew
over the woods, over the meadow and back to Moe's home tree.
And, that's the end.
Just for fun, what kind of lesson do you think Moe learned from his
adventure?
1. Obey your parents and don't steal?
2. Don't mess around with paint buckets?
3. Family and friends are better than fame?
Hope you liked my Peg Tale. Sit in a tree and wait for more tales.
Share a story with a friend...it's a gift!
See 'ya...bye,
Peg
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