SHRIKES AND DAWS. LEY 
carrion crow, and is said sometimes to vary the pro- 
cess by carrying a stone into the air, and then allow- 
ing it to fall upon the shells. This last statement, 
however, may or may not be true. 
Unsociable as it is during ten months of the year, 
the hooded crow seems still less inclined for society 
when it takes upon itself family cares, and builds 
away from others of its own kind, where there is none 
to watch its going out and its coming in. The nest 
is constructed upon much the same principles as 
that of the carrion crow, saving that heather generally 
enters somewhat largely into its composition, and the 
four or five eggs differ but slightly in colour and 
markings from those of the allied species. 
In weighing the character of both the common and 
the hooded crow, we must take into consideration 
the fact that these birds are not only natural scaven- 
gers, but insect-eaters on a large scale as well. They 
serve us in two distinct manners, therefore, while 
injuring us in one—for their thefts of fruit and grain 
are so very few and far between as to be almost un- 
worthy of consideration. But their mischief, unfor- 
tunately both for themselves and for us, is of a very 
visible character, while their services are rarely seen 
by us, and still more rarely appreciated. And so the 
crows have for many years suffered under imputations 
which they do not deserve, and have been so greatly 
reduced in numbers that there are now few parts 
of the country where they may be considered as 
plentiful. 
