You wouldn’t necessarily call the police log in the Swampscott Reporter a harrowing read: " Report of a skunk in a cellar on Burrill Street " ; " Report of a dog barking on Bristol Avenue " ; " Report of a person trying to break into a house on Stanley Road. The person was an aggressive solicitor and was told to stop for the evening. " A number of recent entries into the log, however, left some Swampscott residents feeling jittery: " Report of a dead crow in a driveway on Stanton Road " ; " Report of a dying crow on Lincoln House Avenue " ; " Report of a dead crow on Stonecleave Lane " ; " Report of a dead crow on Lincoln House Avenue. " Four dead crows in five days. Yikes!

While crows have long enjoyed a sinister reputation among humans, in recent years the birds have sparked an anxiety almost medieval in its intensity — especially when the crow is lying belly-up in someone’s driveway. As one of two birds (along with the blue jay) considered a reliable gauge for the presence of the potentially lethal West Nile virus, dead crows — dying crows, sluggish crows, laid-back crows — have inspired thousands of panicky 911 phone calls across the state. The departed birds in Swampscott, apparently, were no exception. So is there anything to worry about?

Maybe. On July 16, a dead crow in Hyde Park tested positive for West Nile, the seventh verified case in the state this year. Nationally, the virus — which is carried by mosquitoes — has killed 18 people and infected 161 since 1999. In any event, local authorities aren’t taking any chances. " When there’s a dead crow, an animal-control officer goes out to investigate, " says James Marotta of the Swampscott Board of Health. " If it’s fresh — if its eyes aren’t sunken in and it’s not crawling with maggots or squashed — we’ll have it tested. " This, Marotta continues, is precisely what they did with one of the recently deceased crows. " We got the results back yesterday, " he says. " They were negative — we’re safe. "

" Birds die every day for a whole host of reasons, " says Roseanne Pawelec of the State Department of Public Health. " Crows in particular are scavengers, they drink contaminated water, they are electrocuted by wires. This is no big deal. " While Pawelec encourages people to report any dead or dying crows, she is relieved that the level of concern isn’t quite as ardent as it was in 2000, the virus’s inaugural year in the state. " People are more used to it, " she says. " They have a much healthier perspective. "

But the hysteria hasn’t died down completely. When a dead crow discovered on the White House lawn last week tested positive for the illness, the bugaboos of terrorism and West Nile converged, with some suggesting that the bird may have been flung over the fence in an act of low-tech biological warfare. " Hell, " remarked one White House staffer, " I’m worried. "

Here in Boston, meanwhile, rumors have been circulating lately about dying seagulls — seagulls raining from the sky, seagulls piled in heaps along the city’s streets. According to one caller to a late-night talk show, the deaths are attributable to certain " chemicals " in the air. " That’s news to me, " says Ed Coletta of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. Bill Davis, who works with the State Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, simply laughs at the idea: " Ha! "

" That’s just not happening, " says Peter Nagle, a spokesman for Mayor Menino. " There was one incident about a month ago of some dead seagulls in South Boston — we think they may have been run over in the street. "