The Crows Attack

After the Wicked Witch of the West saw that her pack of forty wolves had been killed by the Tin Woodman, she grew angrier than before and blew her silver whistle twice. Straightway a great flock of wild crows came flying toward her, enough to darken the sky. She commanded the King Crow to fly at once to the strangers, peck out their eyes, and tear them to pieces. The wild crows flew in one great flock toward Dorothy and her companions. When the little girl saw them coming she was afraid. But the Scarecrow said, "This is my battle, so lie down beside me and you will not be harmed." So they all lay upon the ground except the Scarecrow, and he stood up and stretched out his arms. When the crows saw him they were frightened, as these birds always are by scarecrows, and did not dare to come any nearer. But the King Crow said, "It is only a stuffed man. I will peck his eyes out." The King Crow flew at the Scarecrow, who caught it by the head and twisted its neck until it died. Then another crow flew at him, and the Scarecrow twisted its neck also. There were forty crows, and forty times the Scarecrow twisted a neck, until at last all were lying dead beside him. Then he called to his companions to rise, and again they went upon their journey. The Scarecrow's victory over the crows is a direct inversion of his original purpose: a scarecrow designed to frighten birds instead becomes their destroyer. The battle also reveals that the Scarecrow, despite his self-proclaimed lack of brains, possesses quick thinking and decisive action when his friends are in danger. The Wicked Witch, looking out again and seeing all her crows lying in a heap, got into a terrible rage and blew three times upon her silver whistle, summoning a swarm of black bees for the next attack. The Crows Attack thus forms the second wave of the Witch's escalating assault, following the wolves and preceding the bees, and it is the Scarecrow's first and only solo combat in the story, marking a moment of personal triumph for a character who has felt useless and foolish.