SOME STRANGE INCIDENTS 139 



cat pulled the nest out, and carried off its helpless occupants. And, incidentally 

 by so doing, prevented any further observation of the most remarkable episode 

 in bird-life that I have ever witnessed. 



A curious instance of a Carrion Crow's determination to rear a normal 

 family rather than a single young one is contained in the following account, 

 which concerns a nest which I discovered in the days when I was an ardent egg 

 collector. 



On April 23, I had climbed to a Crow's nest, over the edge of which I 

 had seen the Crow's tail protruding, and to my joy found it contained four 

 extraordinarily beautiful eggs. 



These, I need hardly say, I took away with me, and flattered myself that 

 I had secured a particularly fine clutch. On May 6 of the same year I again 

 passed under the elm-tree, and once more noticed the tip of the Crow's tail 

 projecting from the nest. Yet again I set to work to climb the tree to see if she 

 had laid a second clutch, and found that the nest this time actually contained 

 five eggs. 



This seemed to me incomprehensible, for when a bird has its first clutch 

 of eggs destroyed, or taken, it almost invariably lays a smaller clutch — if a 

 second trial is attempted. 



On returning home, however, I blew the eggs, and found that whilst four 

 of them were newly laid, the fifth was hard-set — proving that the Crow, dis- 

 satisfied with the idea of a single youngster, had during the fortnight that had 

 elapsed, produced another four eggs — making the total equal to that of the 

 original number laid. 



And at about the same time I found a Missel Thrush's nest containing eggs 

 whose history to me at least, seemed inexplicable. The number of eggs which 

 the Missel Thrush lays is normally four ; this nest however contained no less 

 than eight eggs, four of which were quite fresh ; two were on the point of 

 hatching, and two were bad. One can only suppose that either the Missel 

 Thrush was disturbed, and became sceptical as to whether the original four 

 would hatch, and so laid a second consignment — or that the original female 

 was killed ; and the male procmred another, who added her eggs to those 

 already in the nest, and incubated them all. 



The second solution is not very probable however, for in that case four 

 of the eggs would in aU probability have been bad. 



And whilst on the subject of Missel Thrushes, I should like to relate an 

 incident concerning one of them — an incident which also illustrates the extra- 

 ordinary speed with which a Sparrow Hawk dashes at his victim. 



I had noticed in a low oak-tree, a Missel Thrush's nest, and from below 

 could see that it was littered with small feathers. Supposing that the bird 

 had died whilst covering her eggs, and that the feathers had become detached 

 from her decomposing body. I climbed up to investigate — to find that the 



