THE NEST IN THE OLD OAK 101 



The Crows were always robbing. It 

 had to be a well-concealed nest that escaped 

 their keen eyes. I had heard a Skylark 

 singing high up over the meadows. I 

 knew he had a nest there, and by the 

 way he sang during the first part of May 

 I also knew that the robber birds had 

 not yet found his nest. When I dis- 

 covered it, it contained three young birds 

 about a week old, and as the nest was 

 so carefully hidden under a tuft of grass 

 I hoped it would escape the Crows' notice. 

 But it was not to be, and very soon 

 after, one of the robbers went to the Larks' 

 home, and the young birds were carried 

 off to help satisfy the hunger of the 

 birds in the tree-top. Day after day the 

 Crows carefully quartered the surrounding 

 country, and each evening as it approached 

 saw those young Crows getting larger 

 and plumper, and also many more nests 

 robbed. Mice, rats, moles, and also all 

 kinds of carrion were taken to them, and 



