And to the crowe, "O false theef!" seyde he,
"I wol thee quite anon thy false tale.
Thou songe whilom lyk a nyghtyngale;
Now shaltow, false theef, thy song forgon,
And eek thy white fetheres everichon.
– Geoffrey Chaucer
The Canterbury Tales, The Manciple’s Tale. Phoebus turns his rage against his pet white crow, plucking out the white feathers and replacing them with black ones, and removing the bird’s ability to sing and speak. Because of this all crows are black, the Manciple says.