THE CROW. 327 



colour, and sometimes resemble so closely those of the rook 

 that the distinction can hardly be detected. 



The Crow always builds at the tops of trees, and has a won- 

 derful knack of choosing those which are most difficult of ascent. 

 The nests are plentiful enough, but the proportion of eggs taken 

 is very small in comparison. There are some nests which baffle 

 almost anyone to rob successfully. An experienced nest-hunter 

 is always endowed with a strong head, and ought to be perfectly 

 at his ease on the. summit of the loftiest trees, even though he 

 should be obliged to crawl in fly-fashion under a branch, to 

 hang by one hand while he takes the eggs with the other, or to 

 suspend himself by his legs in order to get at a nest below him. 

 That a nest should escape a properly qualified hunter is simply 

 impossible, but to secure the eggs is quite another matter. 



In many cases the nest of the Crow is placed on branches so 

 long and so slender that they will not endure the weight of a 

 small boy, much less of a man, and the only method of getting 

 at it is by bending down the branches. But, when the branches 

 are bent, the nest is tilted over, and out fall the eggs, so that 

 the disappointed hunter loses all his time and trouble. 



Possibly this extreme caution may be the result of sad ex- 

 perience, for, although the generality of Crows' nests are placed 

 in the most inaccessible positions, I have seen and taken many 

 which were so easy of attainment that in a very few minutes I 

 had ascended the tree and returned with the eggs. There are 

 generally four or five eggs, although in some exceptional cases 

 six eggs are said to be laid in a single nest. I never saw more 

 than five, though I have examined very many nests. High as 

 the nest of a Crow may be, it is worthy of an ascent, for, even 

 should it be an old nest and deserted by the original inha- 

 bitant, there is always a possibiHty that it may have been 

 usurped by some hawk, whose beautiful eggs are always con- 

 sidered as prizes. 



There is a splendid British bird, which is becoming scarcer 

 almost yearly, which makes a nest something like that of the 



