STORIES ABOUT BIRDS. 



trade, he would not be so cordially detested as he is. But he is a cruel and 

 relentless bird. He watches the struggles of poor creatures who are ill or 

 in pain, and he and his companion attack and devour them. In lonely- 

 districts he is a terrible enemy to the lambs and the sheep, and is guilty of 

 the most barbarous deeds. In fact, he is always ready to attack any bird or 

 animal that is exhausted and unable to defend itself 



The crow is, as you see, very much like the raven in appearance, only he 

 is smaller. He is a solitary bird, and walks about in the same way that the 

 raven does, and utters a harsh croak. He is also very much hke the rook, 

 though the two birds do not neighbour with each other. 



The nest is on a rock or a tall tree, and is large, and made of twigs, with 

 a lining of moss and wool and hair. 



The crow chooses a crooked tree or ash that grows at the bottom of a 

 glen or near a farmyard. There he can keep watch for any pieces of offal 

 that may be thrown out from the kitchen door ; and he is quite a weather- 

 guide. If a storm is coming on, the crows are sure to be seen in a sheltered 

 place, or else hurrying to some such refuge to escape what is coming. 



When the crow is building her nest, she is anxious to find some soft 

 material to line it, and she often casts her greedy eye upon the wool on the 

 sheep's back. She is a natural enemy, as we said before, to the sheep and the 

 lambs, and will always attack them in any moment of weakness when the 

 shepherd is not there to protect them. But all these bad acts of hers do not 

 prevent her from borrowing, or rather stealing, their wool. She is often seen 

 sitting on the back of a sheep, picking out pieces with her bill, and then 

 carrying them to the nest. 



She feeds her young abundantly with all kinds of provisions, and what 

 they cannot eat she carries away, and throws down at some distance. 



A pair of crows once built their nest in a rocky glen, and a green hillock 

 near was literally covered with egg-shells that had been thrown out as refuse. 



You may suppose that the carrion crow has not many friends. There are 

 no bounds to his rapacity. Scarcely a nest anywhere in the neighbourhood 

 escapes him. The pheasants and partridges are dragged out of their nests, 

 and even the young hares do not escape, to say nothing of the chickens and 

 ducklings that he is always watching his opportunity to steal. He is just 

 as great a thief as far as the eggs are concerned, and carries them off in 

 his bill. 



