# The Crow; The Crocus explained — How to Tell the Birds from the Flowers and Other Woodcuts

> Chapter companion for How to Tell the Birds from the Flowers and Other Woodcuts by Robert Williams Wood.

## What happens

This chapter humorously explores the confusion between a crow and a crocus, attributing the mix-up to ignorance of nature's laws. It plays on homophones and bird behavior, contrasting the cawing of crows with the silent crocus.

## Themes in this chapter

### Wordplay and Homophones

The chapter relies on the homophonic confusion between 'crow' and 'crocus', and puns like 'be-caws' and 'Caw-cus'.

### Nature and Classification

The inability to distinguish a bird from a flower highlights a failure in understanding natural classification.

## Character check-ins

### the Birds

The crows are depicted as noisy participants in a 'Caw-cus'.

## Key lines

> Some are unable, as you know, To tell the Crocus from the Crow;

Some people cannot differentiate between a crocus flower and a crow bird.

_Introduces the central confusion of the chapter._

> The noisy cawing Crows all come, Obedient to the Cro’custom, A large Crow Caw‑cus to convoke.

The loud crows gather according to their tradition, assembling a large crow meeting.

_Puns on 'caucus' and 'caw-cus' to describe crow behavior._

> You never hear the Crocus croak!

The crocus flower never makes a croaking sound.

_Highlights the absurdity of confusing a silent plant with a noisy bird._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/how_to_tell_the_birds_from_the_flowers_and_other_se/chapters/the-crow-the-crocus
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/how_to_tell_the_birds_from_the_flowers_and_other_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/how_to_tell_the_birds_from_the_flowers_and_other_se/chapters