THE WILSON QUARTERL-Y. 85 



NOTES. 



BLUE EGGS OF THE CROW. 



BV W. L. DAWSON, OBERLIN, (). 



One day last April, on my return from a trip after crow's 

 eggs, I showed my finds, two sets having the ordinary 

 olive-green and spotted coloration, to a friend of mine. He 

 exclaimed in great surprise : "Why, I thought crows' eggs 

 were light blue; those that I have seen were." In my su- 

 preme oological conceit I chaffed him unmercifully for 

 making such a wild statement ; but I only succeeded in 

 arousing his Canadian blood, and he stuck to it most posi- 

 tively that he had seen blue crow's eggs in Ontario, and 

 that he had watched them till young crows had been 

 hatched from them. 



A few days later, April oOth it was, I started out with 

 mj" climbers and gun. and was accompanied by a fellow 

 student of marked botanical instincts. 



In the course of the afternoon we came to a crow's nest 

 placed about fifty feet high in a beech tree; and the first 

 thing that attracted my notice as we approached, was the 

 head of the crow as she peered anxiously over the edge of 

 the nest. I walked slowly past the tree so as to size it up 

 from another side; and not till then did I point out the 

 bird's head to my companion. At the sight of my threat- 

 ening finger, knowing that she was detected, the old crow 

 flew off with loud "caws'". I soon had on my climbers and 

 made the ascent. Judge of my feelings when I peered in- 

 to the nest and beheld, not the set of conventional crows" 

 eggs, but a single pale blue one. I grasped the egg, still 

 warm, and hastened down. Nothing but the possession of 

 such a treasure would have made up for my humiliation at 

 the "I told you so" of my Canadian friend, delivered with 

 a very self satisfied chuckle. 



Nine davs later I revisited the nest, this time taking 



