32 



Indeed, a crow perched by its nest with open beak 

 and droopintj wings looks the picture of boredom. 

 This makes the careful watching all the more credit- 

 able to the bird. 



I have said that under ordinary circumstances 

 both parents never leave the nest at the same time 

 until the young ones are about three weeks old. 

 But any great excitement overcomes their maternal 

 solicitude. Crows are very excitable birds. Suddenly 

 every crow in the neighbourhood, for some reason 

 not apparent to man, starts to caw at the top of its 

 voice and fly wildly about in circles. When thus 

 excited the birds will not stop even to pick up food 

 thrown to them. On such occasions all the birds 

 having young leave the nest and help to swell the 

 uproar. The sight of a koel is quite sufticient to 

 cause the parents to momentarily desert the nest. 

 The koel knows this and utilises the characteristic 

 to deposit an egg in the crow's nest. But of this 

 more anon. 



The care of the mother crow for her offspring 

 does not end with nursery days. The little family 

 keep together for weeks after the young birds are 

 fully fledged. 



