194 OUR BACKDOOR NEIGHBORS 



climb to the nest, and Kent being the eldest, 

 claimed the privilege of first examination. 



They kept a careful record of all their ob- 

 servations. They were anxious to determine 

 whether the crow laid every day or only every 

 other day. Their book showed that they found 

 the nest on April 10, and that it contained one 

 egg. April 11, there were two eggs and the 

 1 2th there were three eggs. The fourth egg 

 was not present in the nest until the 1410, 

 which puzzled them somewhat, as it indicated 

 that the egg laying was not entirely regular. 

 Five eggs were laid in all. 



When it came to getting a picture of the 

 nest, they had to fall back upon the Natural- 

 ist, who climbed the tree to a point above the 

 nest, and strapping himself to a branch took a 

 photo from above, as he had done of the cooper 

 hawks' nest. There were only two eggs in the 

 nest when the picture was taken, but he did not 

 enjoy dangling so high above the earth enough 

 to go back again, just to get a few more eggs in 

 the same kind of picture. 



When the incubation began the boys con- 

 tinued their interest to see how long it would 

 take them to hatch. On the first of May they 

 found two young ones, and on the second there 



