Corvus

From the Journal of Antiques

A most beautiful book, recommended to me by the lovely Sara.
A woman gets a rook, she observes it, her thoughts about this rook called Chicken and other Corvids, including a magpie and a crow, make up this fascinating volume.
Part memoir, part philosophy, part natural history, Esther Woolfson's writing is very eloquent, particularly on the subject of the differences between birds and humans.
The order of Corvids, which include those birds mentioned above and also jays, ravens and jackdaws, are believed to be the most intelligent of all birds. The interesting point the author makes is how flawed our judgement of intelligence really is. Firstly, we are quite cagey when it comes to defining intelligence in humans. Secondly, just because birds have not checked all our boxes of intelligence, the only thing this proves is that we do not understand them. I think that humanity has many many catastrophic errors in categorising intelligence and dismissing everything else. Our systematic destruction of native and 'primitive' culture is enough example, I imagine.
The author makes another interesting point in that, because we do not understand birds, as they are so very different to us, the seemingly unavoidable response is one of suspicion and, in most cases, fear.
The Corvid family, ravens and crows in particular, have a long history in Western Europe of persecution, appear in mythology as harbringers of death and have been long regarded as ugly and sinister. This book argues convincingly for their cause. The rook named Chicken is a constant source of fascination and surprise, displaying a myraid of brilliant behaviours, many of which can be paralleled to our own, indeed there are so many examples of percieved emotion (from Chicken basking in the sun joyously, to a positive response to a specific type of music, to fear and anger at the sight of a black pair of bathing shorts seemingly mistaken by Chicken to be a fellow rook, dead) that it is clear that people's superstitious attitudes towards these birds deserve to be altered.
A great, rich read, I enjoyed it immensely, I loved the geeky particulars and studies on animal behaviour, but I think the book has so much more to offer in questions about ourselves and our interaction with the natural world than any book I have read.