The American Crow and the Common Raven, by Lawrence Kilham

With illustrations by Joan Waltermire

Texas A&M University Press, 1989.

ISBN 0-89096-466-1 (paper); 0-89096-466-0 (cloth)

Here's the first paragraph from this book:

"Crows are something special. I discovered this when I was eight years old. I had loved animals since I was five, but all that I could get hold of as pets were rabbits and white mice. We lived in Brookline, Massachsetts, on the outskirts of Boston. School was out in 1918 when, walking around a corner of the road where we lived, I met a policeman holding a well-feathered nestling crow. He had picked it up on the sidewalk and, not knowing what to do with it, was happy to give it to me. Nothing could have been more exciting than that crow. The family was about to move to our summer place in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. When we got there, I liberated Joe the crow. Our house was surrounded by woods and fields, and Joe was free to come and go. He chose mostly to stay close to us and became very much one of the family. He followed me on walks and was a wonderful companion until he flew off early in September, to join his own kind, I hoped. In a life devoted to natural history and keeping animals, I have always remembered Joe as an outstanding experience. I have met others who have had crows when they were young. They all glow with enthusiasm at the memory. Crows, and with them I include ravens, seem as though by convergent evolution to have something in their psyches corresponding to something in our own."

(Kids, don't try this at home. Crows and ravens are wild animals and it's actually a federal offense to keep them as pets. If you find one that's fallen out of its nest, contact a wildlife rescue organization in your area. They'll know more about how to take care of baby birds, too.)