Habits of the Carrion Crow. 209 



to boldness, from distance to proximity, from wariness to 

 heedlessness, in so many different species of birds. One 

 would suppose that they would be more shy and distant at 

 this interesting period ; and, in imitation of the cat, the rabbit, 

 and the fox, conceal as much as possible the place of their 

 retirement. The rook will sometimes build a poor and 

 slovenly nest, but this is never the case with the carrion crow : 

 this bird invariably makes its nest firm and compact. A 

 writer, who signs himself A. B. C, in Vol. V. p. 590., tells us 

 that " some of the nests have such deep beds of wool, moss, 

 and cows' hair, that the eggs seemed quite lost; and might 

 have given the professor his erroneous idea of their being 

 covered with those substances to keep them warm." O, fie ! 

 How is it possible that the eggs should seem quite lost, when 

 the lining on which they lie is so perfectly smooth that they 

 appear as though they were in a basin. Not a single particle 

 of the lining of the nest is ever seen betwixt the eggs and the 

 eye of him who has ascended the tree to take a view of them. 

 I challenge any naturalist to bring proof positive which can 

 invalidate this assertion. Verily, when the professor climbs 

 up to crows' nests this ensuing spring, he will agree with 

 Ovid, that " Causa patrocinio, non bona, pejor erit." [The 

 advocate's cause was not good : it will be worse.] 



The carrion crow never covers its eggs on leaving the 

 nest ; they are generally from three to five, and sometimes 

 even six, in number; wonderfully irregular in size and shape 

 and colour. This irregularity is so very apparent, that, on 

 examining the nests of some carrion crows with eggs in them, 

 you might fancy to yourself that the rook had been there, to 

 add one of hers to those already laid by the original owner. 



This bird never builds its nest in hedges, but will construct 

 it in any of our forest trees ; and, with me, it seems to give 

 the preference, in general, to the oak, the spruce fir, and the 

 Scotch pine. The young are hatched naked and blind, and 

 remain blind for some days. 



Our ancestors, no doubt, bestowed the epithet " carrion " 

 upon this bird, in order to make a clear and decided distinc- 

 tion between it (whose flesh, they probably supposed, was 

 rank and bad) and the rook, the flesh of which was well 

 known to be good and wholesome food. Perhaps, too, in 

 those days of plenty, and of less trade, the carrion crow had 

 more opportunities of tasting flesh than it has in these our 

 enviable times of divers kinds of improvement. Were a 

 carrion crow of the present day to depend upon the finding 

 of a dead cow or horse for its dinner, it would soon become 

 an adept in the art of fasting by actual experiment ; for, no 

 Vol. VI. — No. 33. p 



