A HERMIT'S WILD FRIENDS 



This spring the kingbirds returned to 

 Bond's Hill, and I hope they will nest near 

 by. If they do, the crows and hawks will have 

 to walk Spanish. Last season the crows de- 

 stroyed many birds'-nests in the woods in the 

 immediate vicinity of my cabin. One pair of 

 robins had four nests looted. Only two towhee- 

 buntings were reared, and two nests of the 

 chestnut-sided warbler escaped. The destruc- 

 tion in so small an area shows how fearful 

 the havoc must be on a large territory. 



If the kingbirds do not nest near by, I shall 

 continue the study of the crow at the muzzle 

 of the shotgun, in defence of the song-birds 

 that inhabit the woods around me. 



Those that praise the crow can have but 

 little knowledge of his destructive habits. 



I sleep in the open air eight months of the 

 twelve, and the crows awake me each morning 

 before it is fairly light. For a half-hour or 

 more they keep up a conversation in the crow 

 language. They seem to be debating and 

 laying out a programme for the day. 



They must have a crow almanac, for they 

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