THE GREY CROW 95 



the great hill to the westward. In almost every birch 

 is a nest of the Grey Crows. One indeed holds two such 

 nests, but they have long since been discarded. And now 

 the mother Hoodie has chosen a diminutive birch, not 

 ten feet in height, in which to rear her young. She is 

 constantly on the alert as she sits quietly on the nest, 

 with three or four small babies with reddish, almost naked 

 bodies under her, but the glen is shut in, and thus one can 

 approach near without arousing her fears. 



In her ears as she broods is ever the rushing of the 

 hill burn, and in the noise of the waters her family are 

 cradled. There is but one thing to anger the mother 

 bird. Every now and again there appears, sailing high 

 in the heavens, the dark shape of the Golden Eagle. His 

 eyrie is near at hand, constructed also on a birch, and he 

 is on the look-out for one of the numerous rabbits which 

 populate the glen. For some unexplained reason the very 

 sight of the King of Birds fills the heart of the Hoodie 

 with fury. She rises abruptly from her nest, and with 

 quick, clean wing-beats forges herself in hot pursuit of her 

 hereditary foe. She is not the only one of her tribe in 

 her chase. Already half a dozen of her relations from 

 different points of the main glen are engaged in mobbing 

 the Eagle, dashing down at him repeatedly with harsh, 

 croaking calls. But the Eagle sails by, aloof, inscrutable, 

 and so the breathless and indignant Crows return reluc- 

 tantly to their family affairs once more. 



The hatred shown by the Grey Crow towards the Eagle 

 appears to be somewhat unreasoning. If a Grouse or 

 Ptarmigan harboured feelings of resentment one might 

 sympathise, for these birds constantly fall victims to the 

 Eagle. But so far as I am aware, the Hoodie is left severely 

 alone by the great bird of prey, and it is only when the 

 two attempt to share a feast of venison or sheep's flesh 

 that animosity may be shown by the Eagle. And yet a 



