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leaving him to protect the young birds. Thus each 

 parent takes its turn at sentinel duty. 



The reason of this devotion is not far to seek. It is 

 the penalty of wickedness. It is a case of thieves 

 knowing the ways of thieves. Crows are notorious 

 robbers of nests, neither eggs nor young birds come 

 amiss to them. They know the evil that is in the 

 corvine heart, hence the careful guarding of the 

 young. But I think that there is a limit to the 

 villainy of even a crow. I do not believe that a 

 bird of the vicinity would eat a neighbour's brood, 

 but no outsider crow w^ould feel the least compunction 

 in doing so. This, then, is the chief danger to be 

 feared ; a minor one is presented by the kites who 

 make no bones about robbing a crow's nest. 



One pair of crows built a nest within twenty 

 feet of my window, hence I was enabled to watch 

 operations closely. The eggs hatched out on the 

 4th July and the young birds did not leave the 

 nest until 26 days later. It was amusing to see 

 the parent birds fussing over the young ones, the 

 former had to stand astride the nest for fear of in- 

 juring the tender occupants. Crows are naturally 

 active, restless birds, and hence this constant stand- 

 ing over the nest must be very irksome to them. 



