Blacky says that the eggs which the bens lay belong to the hens , and that he , Blacky has just as much right to take them as Farmer Brown 's boy . He quite overlooks the fact that Farmer Brown 's boy feeds the biddies and takes the eggs as pay . Anyway , that is what Farmer Brown 's boy says , but I do not know whether or not the biddies understand it that way . So Blacky the Crow can not see why he should not help himself to an egg when he gets the chance . He does n't get the chance very often to steal eggs from the hens , because usually they lay their eggs in the henhouse , and Blacky is too suspicious to venture inside . The eggs he does get are mostly those of his neighbors in the Green Forest and the Old Orchard . But once in a great while some foolish hen will make a nest outside the henhouse somewhere , and if Blacky happens to find it the black scamp watches every minute he can spare from other mischief for a chance to steal an egg . Now Blacky knows just what a rogue Farmer Brown 's boy thinks he is , and for this reason Blacky is very careful about approaching Farmer Brown or any other man until he has made sure that he runs no risk of being shot . Blacky knows quite as well as any one what a gun looks like . He also knows that without a terrible gun , there is little Farmer Brown or any one else can do to him . So when he sees Farmer Brown out in his fields , Blacky often will fly right over him and shout `` Caw , caw , caw , ca-a-w ! '' in the most provoking way , and Fanner Brown 's boy insists that he has seen Blacky wink when he was doing it . But Blacky does n't do anything of this kind around the buildings of Farmer Brown . You see , he has learned that there are doors and windows in buildings , and out of one of these a terrible gun may bang at any time . Though he has suspected that Farmer Brown 's boy would not now try to harm him , Blacky is naturally cautious and takes no chances . So when he comes spying around Farmer Brown 's house and barn , he does it when he is quite sure that no one is about , and he makes no noise about it . First he sits in a tall tree from which he can watch Farmer Brown 's home . When he is quite sure that the way is clear , he flies over to the Old Orchard , and from there he inspects the barnyard , never once making a sound . If he is quite sure that no one is about , he sometimes drops down into the henyard and helps himself to corn , if any happens to be there . It was on one of these silent visits that Blacky spied something which he could n't forget .
It was a box just inside the XXXXX door .
Brown First Forest Orchard ca-a-w caw henhouse henyard minute right