The Wild Bird Police, Hawks, and a Rat

I watched the crows who, in an organized effort, chased a hawk out of the area. The hawk had arrived to prey on my chicken flock.
The crows spent a lot of time around my yard because they got easy meals here. There was always chicken feed, and there were a lot of eggs for them to eat which were too dirty for people. I tossed the messy eggs into an area of my yard to which the crows had easy access, which was outside of the chicken area.
This was indeed a very good reason for the crows to want to stay in the area: delicious fresh eggs, which didn't have to stolen from a nest. There would be no battle with irate parent mockingbirds. There would only be total enjoyment of the eggs found on the ground.
I would have put the eggs out for them anyway, but I was glad for the benefit of the guard patrol by the aggressive crows. They protected their territory and drove off the hawks which had come to attempt to carry a nice fresh meal of live chicken to a secluded dining area.
I was always alerted by the furious "Caw-caw!" when a hawk came into the area. The crows were kind of like bird police.
I have always liked crows. When I was a second-grade student at Pilgrim Memorial Elementary School in Provincetown a whole lot of years ago, there was a crow who visited the playground at recess time. Someone had tamed the bird and it could talk.
The children would gather around and call out words, and the bird would return the favor, repeating some of the words.
I don't remember if an adult attended the bird or if it came on its own. I just remember that the bird talked and it really made an impression on me and I was delighted by the visits.
One day the teacher announced to the children that our crow friend would not be coming to visit any more because it had been shot and killed by some mean person. There were a lot of tears falling that day (and not one grief councilor in sight).
It is clear to anyone who knows me that I have a fondness for birds of all kinds. I even have great admiration for the hawks which have plagued my chicken flock.
I once rescued a hawk from the side of a highway and tended it for four days over a long holiday weekend, until I could take it to the local wild bird shelter. It took the bird a few months at the shelter to recover from its head injury, but it was eventually released back into the wild.
While the hawk was in my care, I gave it water by hooking and lifting the upper beak with a sports-type water bottle and squeezing water into the opened beak. It would not drink from a dish, so I gave it water in this way several times each day. I also offered it various grains and seeds to eat, spreading it in the bottom of the box, but the hawk would have none of it.
I didn't know how long the hawk had been on the side of the road, so I worried that it may have been a long time since it had eaten.
I went to the local pet supply store and bought a small live rat, hoping the hawk would take in some nourishment in the form of the rat. I dropped the rat into the box with the hawk and turned away, not wanting to witness the carnage. A half-hour later I went back to the box and saw the rat sitting at the feet of the hawk. I walked away and returned in an hour. The rat was still in the box, enjoying the grain and seeds.
I put on my heavy leather gloves to protect against hawk bites, and removed the rat from the box.
Now what in the world was I going to do with this rat?
Ben the rat lived in a large cage in my bird room for about three years until he died of natural causes. I was glad the hawk hadn't eaten Ben.