136 
CORVID.T:. 
beyond my reach. The most singular-looking nest which has 
yet come under my notice was that of a Hooded Crow. The 
upper part was, as usual, composed of large sea- weed stalks, &c.> 
lined with wool, feathers, moss, and hair ; but this was built 
upon a substantial foundation of bones of ponies and sheep, 
collected in such quantities that the mass measured nearly a 
yard across, and, in one part, a foot in depth. Many of the 
bones were of so large a size that it is difficult to imagine how 
they could have been carried. Hor did the peculiarity end here. 
In my walks along shore I had at various times collected a 
number of quills of geese and great black -backed gulls, deposit- 
ing them for safety in the crevice of a rock ; but the hoard 
having been discovered by the crows, it was unceremoniously 
appropriated by them, and long afterwards the quills were to 
be seen sticking like so many skewers around the brim of the 
nest, crossed and interwoven in a manner weU calculated to 
afford great strength, even though they certainly gave it a very 
odd appearance. I have since found several nests, each having 
a foundation of bones. 
Once, when wallving along the cliffs, I lost the stem of a 
stethoscope, and saw nothing more of it until some weeks 
later, when a man found it built into a Hoodie’s nest. 
So little care is exercised in the choice of a site, that I have 
known a nest washed away by an unusually high tide, and 
another built near the same spot soon afterwards. 
A pair of Hooded Crows, one of them distinguished by a 
broken leg, was pointed out to me as having built within about 
a hundred yards of the same spot for a great number of years, 
although robbed almost annually. After this I observed 
them building there regularly for the twelve years preceding 
my departure from Shetland. While sitting, the habits of this 
species "are similar to those of the Eaven, and it shows an 
equal degree of boldness in attacking all birds which venture 
toonear. 
1 once knew a Hooded Crow voluntarily take to the water 
when wounded. It had fallen to tlie gTOund, winged; and 
