Subject: [Tweeters] Leucistic Crow in Lynnwood--Why Crows are Black
Date: Apr 18 16:12:35 2012
From: Bill Lider - Bill.Lider at Frontier.com


Crows were once the most respected birds in world according to Greek
mythology. They had beautiful singing voices with bright white feathers
with gold trim on their wings and tail.



The crows served the gods and goddesses of Mount Olympus as reliable
messengers, until the bungling crow Corvus messed it up for all crows.



As myth has it, Apollo sent Corvus on an errand to fetch water from a far
off magical spring with his favorite chalice to collect the magical water.
But Corvus did no know exactly where the magical spring was, but he thought
he could stop along the way and ask for directions. So he told Apollo no
problem and that he would return later that evening.



Corvus' confidence in finding the magical fountain waned as the day wore on.
His wings were getting tired and his throat was dry, so he decided to take a
break at a local bar where he met up with some friends. Corvus and his old
buddies drank and drank talking late into the night.



The next morning, very hung-over, Corvus decided to fly back to Mount
Olympus and face the music. As he got closer to the home of the gods, the
wayward crow began cooking up a story about how a crazed water snake had bit
him while getting a drink of water, making him too woozy to find the
fountain.



When Corvus landed, he almost had Apollo convinced about his water snake
tall tale, until he handed the chalice over to Apollo. Corvus had forgotten
to wash it out and it reeked of beer!



Apollo fired Corvus on the spot and banned all crows from Mount Olympus. In
his anger, Apollo turned all crows to the jet-black we see today and turned
their beautiful singing voices into the raucous caw-caw.



As a further warning to all crows, Apollo set Corvus in the sky where he
flies as a warning to all birds never to deceive the gods again.



The constellation Corvus can be seen in the southern sky, just to right of
the bright star Spica in the constellation of Virgo the Virgin.



CAW-CAW!!