DOMESTIC HABITS OF THE CARRION-CROW. O27 
would probably have been the change on each occasion. More- 
over, the infrequency of these exeats on the part of the sitting 
bird is itself evidence that she alone sits, for, if the duty were 
shared, why should she have to sit so long, and why should the 
egas be left so long uncovered? This last must be necessarily 
the case, however, if the bird who does all the sitting has like- 
wise to procure her food, as she must, if not fed on the nest by 
her mate, of which latterly there has been little evidence—she 
cannot, at any rate, be sufficiently fed there. 
May 9th. — This afternoon being a little finer than it has 
been for the last week or more, I cycled to the first nest along 
the La Guesniére road, and had it under observation about 4. I 
assumed that the eggs must now be hatched, and two visits 
which were paid within the next thirty-five minutes would seem 
to support that view. The first was at 4.15, and the next at 
4.35. I thought, each time, that the bird that came was the 
one that went away, but it was a long view, this time (I was not 
in the accustomed place), and the nest is now almost concealed 
amongst the growing leaves of the beech it is in. I supposed 
also that when the visiting bird, each time, flew away, the nest 
was left empty except for the young, but here I was in error, for 
on walking up to the tree after the last visit and striking it with 
my stick, the bird at once went off. This was not till ten minutes 
after the last visit, and it would have been possible, certainly, 
for one of the birds to have come, since then, without my seeing 
it, but I do not suppose this to have been the case. What I 
think likely is that, the young being yet of tender age, the hen 
Crow was covering them, and that the male twice brought food, 
which she probably received from him, and then fed the chicks 
with. 
My observations on this pair of Crows ended here. 
March 29th, 1910.—About a week ago I saw a Crow busily 
engaged in chasing away several Magpies, not only from three 
or four tall slender trées close together, in one of which it had 
its nest, but also from various other trees, not far off, round 
about. In this the Crow had a good deal of trouble, as the 
Magpies were always returning. After a time it was joined by 
another Crow, which, however, did not take so active a part in 
