THE IOWA OKNITHOLOGIST. 



61 



It is sometimes not more than 

 ten or twelve feet from the 

 g-round; however it is oftener 

 found in the top of a sycamore or 

 walnut tree. Nest g-enerally built 

 about May lst."(Wilmon Newell. ) 

 "This is an abundant bird in 

 Marshall county, and is a perman- 

 ent resident with us. It is g-ener- 

 ally to be found in the woods, but 

 often ma}^ be seen in open fields 

 while searching- for food. I think 

 the Crow must destroy numerous 

 nests of the Bob-white, as I have 

 observed it carrying these eggs to 

 its young-. This species seems to 

 have a spite at the Raptores, and 

 especially at the Owls, or at any 

 rate it will congregate in great 

 numbers to fight them. The 

 noise that ensues often leads the 

 collector to find their foe and add 

 its skin to his cabinet. On Feb. 

 11, I secured a Barred Owl thit 

 was so near killed by these birds 

 that I knocked it over with a 

 club. 



The American Crow is among 

 earliest breeders in this county. 

 On March 25, 1893, I took a set, 

 1-4; this is the earliest date on 

 which I have taken a complete set 

 of this species. I find fresh sets, 

 commonest in this county about 

 April lOtli. A typical nest of 

 this locality is composed of sticks 

 intermixed with dead grass, 

 heavily lined with grapevine bark, 

 binding twire, bunches of hair, 

 and corn husks. The nesting 

 site varies in its distance from 



the ground according to the gen- 

 eral height of the surrounding 

 trees. In light brush}- timber it 

 is often not more than fifteen feet 

 from the ground. In Marshall 

 county I found the number con- 

 stituting a set to b2 from four to 

 sIk; five being the most common. 

 The eggs are extremely variable 

 in coloration; rang-ing from light 

 blue to dark olive, and from 

 almost entirely unmarked speci- 

 mens, to some so heavily marked 

 with spots and blotches of black- 

 ish-umber, as to almost conceal 

 the ground color. "(A. P. Godley. ) 

 "On June 1, I saw an albino Crow, 

 pure white in color, this bird was 

 with a brood of young Crows, and 

 was probably raised in the spring- 

 of '94. In this locality the Crow 

 remains all winter, and feeds' on 

 old dead horses and cattle. They 

 will eat anything that is flesh. 

 They nest in March and April, and 

 prefer jack-oak trees for their 

 nesting place. I have also found 

 a few in wild cherry and willow 

 trees. Five eg-gs are most com- 

 monly a set, but upon one occas- 

 ion I found a set of (9 j nine eggs 

 in one nest.'" (Earl Cyril Statler. i 

 ''A common bird. I have taken 

 six or eight nests of this species 

 in a half days tramp, in early 

 sprin^. The nest is large and 

 conspicuous. I have alwa^'s noted 

 that the interior of the nest is 

 made up largely of strips of 

 grape-vine bark. The number 

 of eg=,s range from four to six 



