HOODED CROW. 
225 
arising, probably, from their partiality to shell-fish. On 
one of the islands at sea we found a solitary pair, which 
had got their nest in a rock, in the very camp of their 
enemies, the sea-gulls, which took every possible oppor¬ 
tunity of annoying them, and, upon our driving one of 
them from the nest which contained eggs, persecuted it 
without mercy. One of the eggs was hatched, and 
another just chipped. We wished much to obtain the 
shell without causing the death of the young one ; and, 
in order to accomplish this, my companion, Mr. John * 
Hancock, performed the accouchement most admirably 
with a lancet, leaving the young Crow sprawling unin¬ 
jured at the bottom of the nest. 
The eggs are four or five in number, and do not differ 
from those of the carrion crow and rook, except in size. 
In shape and colour they are more nearly allied to those 
of the rook, and are subject to the same jackdaw-like 
variety as the other species. The egg of the carrion 
crow, figured in the plate, is intended to represent the 
typical appearance of those of this species; the light- 
coloured egg of the Hooded Crow, a variety to which 
they are both subject. 
Q 
