.CROW RELATIVES 



them. On the way home I visited the other two nests, 

 but the young had left the one in the tall chestnut, and 

 in the hemlock nest all that was left was about half of 

 one of the young ones. My friend the hawk had been 

 finding the gentle art of eating crow not as disagreeable 

 as some suppose. This was proper enough, in all 

 justice, to avenge the pillaging of many a small bird's 

 nest by the black rascals. 



The only way that I knew of at this late day to get 

 young crows to photograph, was to hustle and find 

 some. Truly I worked hard, but I had no success till 

 I came across a friend who recently, while resting in 

 some woods, had seen a crow fly to a nest in a low 

 fork of a big chestnut tree. One may be sure I lost 

 no time in having him show me the nest, the only 

 delay being to examine the nest of an Ovenbird which 

 fluttered from her eggs almost at my feet. All was 

 silent at the crow's nest, but I took the camera with 

 me up a sapling which grew beside the other tree, and 

 saw three young crows almost fully fledged squatting 

 low in the nest. They were too old to beg for food, 

 having learned to fear, so I photographed them as they 

 were, in the nest; then I climbed to the nest, took 

 them down in a creel, photographed them on a log, and 

 restored them to their home, though my friend was for 

 wringing their necks. After I was gone I suspect that 

 they went the way of all the world! 



Although the crow is usually a shy bird, it is perfectly 

 possible to photograph it at the nest, provided that one 



