Six Crows: A Fable, by children's author Leo Lionni (1910-1999), is the basis of the drawing six crows. It is a story in which the settlement of an argument is reached through compromise. A farmer is irritated by six noisy crows who steal from his wheat farm, and so he builds a scarecrow. In retaliation, the crows build a frightening kite bird to scare the farmer. The farmer builds an even more harrowing scarecrow, and the birds reciprocate with an even bigger, more horrible kite. The two parties suffer; the crows go hungry as the farmer hides in his house, shutters locked, neglecting his fields.

With the intervention of the wise owl, eventually the crows and the farmer reach an understanding gained through civil discourse, casting aside their violent or aggressive tactics.

six crows, in progress