do 
A naturalist on the prowl 
promptly be caught and impaled on a thorn till it is 
tender enough to eat. No provision had been made, 
however, against me, and I annexed the eggs without 
much scruple, I confess, for sentiment does not naturally 
attach itself to the Butcher Bird. Somehow or other, I 
have quite a different feeling towards the King-crow. It 
seems mean to take advantage of the splendid courage 
with which he builds his flimsy house in the most exposed 
situation he can 
kites to pass that 
way, or crows to 
perch on any of 
the neighbour- 
ing trees. At 
this moment a 
travel-worn 
crow, which 
rested for a 
KING-CROW, 
moment on a forbidden tree in mere ignorance, is catching 
it from the indomitable little tyrant and his wife. Each 
in turn, with torrents of contemptuous abuse, drops into 
him from a height of twenty feet, then wheels round and 
