A black crow caused confusion near the Clock Tower after stealing an official signal whistle from a maintenance table. The bird carried the whistle to a nearby roof. It then discovered that pecking the mouthpiece produced a short tone. For the next seven minutes, the crow repeated this discovery. Workers below attempted to recover the whistle.
The crow disagreed. The crow’s performance also attracted a small audience, which appears to have encouraged it. One child applauded after a particularly clear whistle; the maintenance supervisor asked the child not to reward unauthorised municipal signalling, a sentence he had not expected to use that morning. Two street musicians joined the effort by whistling back.
This made the situation worse. The whistle was eventually dropped into a flower box and recovered. City officials have reminded staff not to leave signal equipment unattended. The crow has not been charged. It has also not returned the small brass clip attached to the whistle. The investigation remains, technically, open.
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