BIRDS. 



is so limited. In size it is smaller than the common 

 crow, and is a much less noble and dignified bird 

 Its caw is weak and feminine — a sort of split and 

 abortive caw, that stamps it the sneak-thief it is. 

 This crow is common farther south, but is not found 

 in this State, so far as I have observed, except in the 

 valley of the Hudson. 



One season a pair of them built a nest in a Norway 

 spruce that stood amid a dense growth of other or* 

 namental trees near a large unoccupied house. The}' 

 aat down amid plenty. The wolf established himself 

 in the fold. The many birds — robins, thrushes, 

 finches, vireos, pewees — that seek the vicinity of 

 dwellings (especially of these large country residences 

 with their many trees and park-like grounds), for the 

 greater safety of their eggs and young, were the easy 

 and convenient victims of these robbers. They plun- 

 dered right and left, and were not disturbed till their 

 young were nearly fledged, when some boys, who 

 had long before marked them as their prize, rifled 

 the nest. 



The song-birds nearly all build low ; their cradle 

 is not upon the tree- top. It is only birds of prey 

 that fear danger from below more than from above, 

 and that seek the higher branches for their nests. A 

 line five feet from the ground would run above more 

 than half- the nests, and one ten feet would bound 

 more than three fourths of them. It is only the 

 oriole and the wood pewee that, as a rule, go higher 

 than this. The crows and jays and other enemies of 

 the birds have learned to explore this belt pretty 

 thoroughly. But the leaves and the protective color- 

 ing of most nests baffle them as effectually, no doubt; 

 as they do the professional oologist. The nest of the 



