Phebus kills his wife in anger, but in remorse he breaks his bow and takes it out on the crow.
A bird that can sing like a nightingale and speak human language informs his master that his wife has taken a lover.  Phebus kills his wife in anger, but in remorse he breaks his bow and takes it out on the crow. Plucking out its white feathers, he hurls it to the Devil, takes away its power of speech, and changes his song to a raucous croak.  Based on an Ovid folktale that explains why crows are black, identify, FTP, this Canterbury Tale whose narrator taunts the Cook for drinking in the Prologue.
A bird that can sing like a nightingale and speak human language informs his master that his wife has taken a lover.  
The Manciple's Tale