176 BIRDS OF THE WEST OF SCOTLAND. 



one leg, the other having apparently been taken off in a trap a 

 considerable time before. 



In 1867 I had another opportunity of watching a pair of crows 

 that built their nest in Shemore Glen. The male was black and 

 the female grey, and the nest, which was situated in a rowan tree 

 growing on the edge of a deep gorge, was composed of sticks and 

 bones, and lined with heather, straws, and sheep's wool. It con- 

 tained six eggs; two of these are now before me, and are not 

 distinguishable from those of the hooded crow or carrion crow; 

 four were hatched, but two of the young birds were destroyed 

 when a few days old, leaving two both grey crows which 

 were afterwards taken when the old birds were shot. The four 

 birds are now preserved in the Hunterian Museum of the Glasgow 

 University. 



During the time the young ones are in the nest this crow must 

 commit serious mischief in localities frequented by game. The 

 quantity of eggs destroyed in a few weeks is indeed remarkable, 

 as any one may observe by searching in the neighbourhood of 

 their breeding place. The cunning creatures seem to avoid 

 betraying themselves, and contrive to leave the marks of their 

 spoil at some distance from the nest. In the instance just noticed 

 the birds had either feasted at a rocky knoll on the other side of 

 the gorge or carried thither the egg shells after having fed their 

 young ones with the contents, the ground being literally covered 

 with the broken fragments of the eggs of grouse, wild duck, and 

 black game, besides the bones of lambs and other prey. Such a 

 "shell heap" would have roused the ire of the most benevolent 

 ornithologist. Plunder of this kind being obtainable, at least in 

 any quantity, only for a few weeks in spring and early summer, 

 the hooded crow lives for the most part of the year on what it 

 can pick up on *the sea shore. Stranded fish, birds, crabs, and 

 various molluscs, such as mussels and other bivalves, are its 

 favourite food, and are relished all the more when in a state of 

 decomposition; but when taken alive the crabs and shell-fish being 

 able to resist the crow's beak, are carried to some height into the 

 air and let fall among the rocks a treatment which enables the 

 ingenious depredator to get at once at the contents. This habit 

 is quite general among hooded crows, and is also practised by the 

 rook when frequenting the coast. In inland situations the hooded 

 crow is occasionally, during severe weather, obliged to resort to a 



