114 BIRDS OF THE PLAINS 



in a dying state by the time my climber reached the 



nest. 



With a view to determining at what stage the incu- 

 bating instinct secures its dominance, I placed another 

 fowl's egg in a crow's nest that was almost ready to re- 

 ceive eggs, wondering whether the presence of this egg 

 would stimulate the crow to lay, without troubling to 

 give the final touches to the nest. The bird devoured 

 the egg. It is my belief that the acts of a nesting bird 

 do not become completely automatic until it has laid 

 an egg in the nest. If one visits a crow's nest which is 

 in course of construction, the owners will as likely as 

 not desert it ; but I have never known a crow desert its 

 nest when once it has laid an egg — provided, of course, 

 he who visits the nest leaves any eggs in it. 



In another nest containing two crow's eggs I placed 

 a golf ball ; on returning next day I found the crow 

 sitting tight upon her own two eggs and the golf ball ! 



But in another case, where I had found two eggs and 

 substituted for them a couple of golf balls, the crow 

 refused to sit. I suppose the idea was, " I may be a bit 

 of a fool when I am nesting, but I am not such a fool as 

 all that!" I once came across a young koel and a crow's 

 egg in a nest. I removed the former and placed it in a 

 crow's nest containing four crow's eggs. The owner of 

 the nest showed no surprise at the sudden appearance 

 of the koel, but set about feeding it in the most matter- 

 of-fact way. The young koel was successfully reared ; 

 it is now at large and will next year victimise some 

 crow. I may say that no human being could possibly 

 fail to distinguish between a young koel and a young 



i 



