Unless I just wasn't paying attention, there's an amazing lack of crows in "Treasure Island", "Mutiny on the Bounty", Horatio Hornblower, Christopher Columbus, ...

Also, keeping birds is not a particularly clean occupation. Putting a source of fresh guano at the tip-top of the ship seems unwise. It's probably not a particularly good for the long term or even short term health of the birds either. It would not be convenient for the person who has to feed and water the birds. If the purpose of the birds is to be released to fly away, it seems unnecessary that they start from any higher up.

It seems like there would be a colorful name for the poor swabby whose job it was feed the birds and clean their cages and/or the duty would be a punishment "After ye finish swabbing the decks, ye must clean the crow's nests, arrr!"

I also read the next entry on the page "dead horse" - the party and burning of a horse in effigy sounds like it would make a rollicking scene for a book not to mention a movie, and yet...

Last edited by Myridon; 06/30/2008 8:02 PM.