THE CROW ; 
327 
colour, and sometimes resemble so closely those of the rook 
that the distinction can hardly be detected. 
The Crow always builds at the tops of trees, and has a won- 
derful knack of choosing those which are most difficult of ascent. 
The nests are plentiful enough, but the proportion of eggs taken 
is very small in comparison. There are some nests which baffle 
almost anyone to rob successfully. An experienced nest-hunter 
is always endowed with a strong head, and ought to be perfectly 
at his ease on the summit of the loftiest trees, even though he 
should be obliged to crawl in fly-fashion under a branch, to 
hang by one hand while he takes the eggs with the other, or to 
suspend himself by his legs in order to get at a nest below him. 
That a nest should esfape a properly qualified hunter is simply 
impossible, but to secure the eggs is quite another matter. 
In many cases the nest of the Crow is placed on branches so 
long and so slender that they will not endure the weight of a 
small boy, much less of a mail, and the only method of getting 
at it is by bending down the branches. But, when the branches 
are bent, the nest is tilted over, and out fall the eggs, so that 
the disappointed hunter loses all his time and trouble. 
Possibly this extreme caution may be the result of sad ex- 
perience, for, although the generality of Crows’ nests are placed 
in the most inaccessible positions, I have seen and taken many 
which were so easy of attainment that in a very few minutes I 
had ascended the tree and returned with the eggs. There are 
generally four or five eggs, although in some exceptional cases 
six eggs are said to be laid in a single nest. I never saw more 
than five, though I have examined very many nests. High as 
the nest of a Crow may be, it is worthy of an ascent, for, even 
should it be an old nest and deserted by the original inha- 
bitant, there is always a possibility that it may have been 
usurped by some hawk, whose beautiful eggs are always con- 
sidered as prizes. 
There is a splendid British bird, which is becoming scarcer 
almost yearly, which makes a nest something like that of the 
