230 BULLETIN 191, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



materials used in lining the nesting bowl, a difference somewhat de- 

 pendent on their availability. Different nests may be lined with moss, 

 reed fibers, grass, feathers, twine, rags, wool, fur, hair, roots, seaweed, 

 leaves, and similar materials. 



The crow seems to prefer coniferous trees not only in the northern 

 sections of its range but even in the south where such trees abound. 

 In States where hardwood trees predominate, they are more frequently 

 selected as nesting sites. T. E. McMullen, who has made extensive 

 observations on the nesting sites of 227 c.rows in Pennsylvania, Delaware, 

 and New Jersey, reports finding 112 nests in oak trees, 62 in other species 

 of hardwood including 13 in maple, and 11 in beech trees. The remaining 

 43 were in coniferous trees, 24 in pine, 17 in cedars, and 2 in hemlocks. 

 The above nests varied from 10 to 70 feet in height from the ground, 

 but the majority exceeded 25 feet. Edmund J. Reimann writes that he 

 has found nests in Pennsylvania that were built at a height of 100 feet 

 from the ground. 



In the agricultural areas of the Middle West, where there is a lack 

 of large trees, crows resort to second-growth timber and shrubs of vari- 

 ous kinds. In central Illinois favorite nesting sites are the Osage-orange 

 fences. These hedges, abundantly armed with thorns, offer excellent 

 protection, even against the prowling naturalist who may wish to examine 

 the nests. 



The crow is adaptable in the choice of its nesting site. In the western 

 Canadian provinces there are numerous instances where the crow has 

 nested on the ground either from choice or because of the lack of trees. 

 Ferry (1910) found a crow's nest at Quill Lake, Saskatchewan, that 

 was situated on the ground at the forks of the dead branches of a fallen 

 and nearly burned up weather-bleached poplar tree. At Regina, Sas- 

 katchewan, Mitchell (1915) found a crow's nest on the ground between 

 wild-rose bushes ; others were placed on clusters of rose and low bushes 

 just a few inches above the ground. On June 13, 1935. Aldous (1937) 

 found two crow's nests built on the ground along the shore of Lake 

 Manitoba. Another nest containing three eggs was found in the tules 

 over the water, and a fourth nest was built on marshy ground among 

 the reeds. In the latter two cases there were trees and brush in the 

 vicinity, and apparently these situations were a matter of choice on the 

 part of the birds. 



Horning (1923) cites an unusual experience with a nest that he found 

 at Luscar, Alberta. "We found a crow's nest in a willow thicket about 

 ten feet from the ground, on May 28, 1922. The situation surprised us, 

 as the Crow usually builds very high, and there were high trees within 

 a few hundred yards. We thought that the presence of an abundant 



