39 



weary you with an account of this visit, suffice it to say, 

 I will never visit another crow roost. 



In West Virginia they begin building about the last of 

 March and the nests are ready for the reception of eggs 

 about the first week in April. The nests are quite easy 

 to find on account of the noisy habits of the birds, spec- 

 ially the male. He will follow the female about while 

 she is building her nest and keep up a continual caw. 



The nest, which is quite bulky, is composed of sticks, 

 twigs, moss and dried grass, lined with horse and cow 

 hair, fine black rootlets, grape-vine bark and dried grass. 

 It is generally placed in an evergreen tree. I have found 

 nests at a height of 80 foct from the ground and in one 

 instance found a nest in a crab-apple bush 8 feet from the 

 ground, but the average height is about 20 ft. 



The eggs, four to ?4x in number, are light green thick- 

 ly spotted and blotched with dark brown, but great vari- 

 ations exist in both ground color and markings; the 

 average size is 1.15x1.75. An egg in my collection meas- 

 ures 1.25x2.05. 



Have any collectors ever found " warbles" in crows? 

 Last spring (1888) I took 4 young crows, which were 

 nearly ready to fly, and in the wings and around the 

 heads of each one found worms which exactly resemble 

 those found in gray squirrels in fall and spring. Didn't 

 have an opportunity to examine any except these four, 

 but shall watch closely this spring. Shall be pleased to 



