THE AMERICAN CROW. 



the like. When completed, the nest is about seven inches across and three 

 deep inside. The expression "crow's nest," as used to indicate disarray, 

 really arises from the consideration of old nests. Since the birds resort to 

 the same locality year after year, but never use an old nest, the neighboring 

 structures of successive years come to represent every stage of dilapidation. 

 Normally Crows nest at middle heights in convenient trees in small 

 woodlands, but under the stress of persecution they rise to greater heights and 

 choose inaccessible trees, such as shell-bark hickories or giant elms. I once 

 located a nest in the northern part of the state at a height of a hundred and 

 ten feet in an elm tree five feet in diameter. Since the nest did not belong 

 to a Swallow-tailed Kite, the eggs were not disturbed. On the other hand, 

 the birds sometimes throw themselves on our mercy and build within fifteen 

 or twenty feet of the ground, and in very climbable trees. 



The eggs vary interminably in coloration, but the type is strongly marked. 

 -> In a recent monograph 1 it was deemed 



advisable to give a particular descrip- 

 tion of fifty sets in order to cover the 

 range of variation. Perhaps the most 

 remarkable set that has come to light, 

 at least in Ohio, was one found in the 

 spring of 1892 near Oberlin. *The four 

 eggs which comprise the set are en- 

 tirely unmarked, of a pale blue color, 

 not unlike that of Cooper Hawk's eggs. 

 They were taken by myself at two dif- 

 ferent times, under circumstances which 

 would seem to preclude the possibility 

 of mistake in identity. A friend from 

 Ontario, Rev. Giles G. Brown, who 

 saw the eggs, assured me that all which 

 he had ever seen near his native home 

 were of the same description. 



April is the usual month for nesting, 

 but birds are sometimes seen gathering 

 nest materials during the first week in 

 March, and incubation is often under 

 way before the end of the month. Only 

 one brood is provided for in a season 

 unless some accident befalls the first, in 

 which case another nest is more hastily 

 prepared at some distance from the 

 scene of former disaster. Deposition of 



1 The American Crow, by Frank L. Burns, Bulletin No. 5 of the Wilson Ornithological Chapter. 



Photo by Criggs & Tyler. 

 CROW NESTING. 



