NESTLINGS OF FOREST AND MARSH 
sucked the contents, leaving the empty 
shells behind. A snake or a crow swallows 
the eggs or carries them away without break- 
ing ; a red squirrel tears the nest in such a 
Dr. Jekyll 
way there is no mistaking his handiwork, 
and a jay sucks the eggs if fresh ; otherwise 
he too carries them away at least a few feet, 
breaks them, and eats the embryo. I have 
even thought he deliberately waits for the 
egg to develop, preferring newly hatched 
young to raw albumen, for he has been 
seen near nests day after day, and robbed 
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