perched upon the edge of the nest, hastily bolting the eggs.
The parent birds, usually so ready for the attack, seemed over-come
with grief and alarm. They fluttered about in the most helpless and
bewildered manner, and it was not till the robber fled on my approach
that they recovered themselves and charged upon him. The crow scurried
away with upturned, threatening head, the furious kingbirds fairly upon
his back. The pair lingered around their desecrated nest for several
days, almost silent, and saddened by their loss, and then disappeared.
They probably made another trial elsewhere.

The fish-crow only fishes when it has destroyed all the eggs and young
birds it can find. It is the most despicable thief and robber among
our feathered creatures. From May to August, it is gorged with the
fledglings of the nest. It is fortunate that its range is so limited.
In size it is smaller than the common crow, and is a much less noble
and dignified bird. Its caw is weak and feminine--a sort of split and
abortive caw, that stamps it the sneak-thief it is. This crow is
common farther south, but is not found in this State, so far as I have
observed, except in the valley of the Hudson.

One season a pair of them built a nest in a Norway Spruce that stood
amid a dense growth of other ornamental trees near a large unoccupied
house. They sat down amid plenty. The wolf established himself in the
fold. The many birds--robins, thrushes, finches, vireos, pewees--that
seek the vicinity of dwellings (especially of these large country
residences with their many trees and park-like grounds), for the greater
safety of their eggs and young, were the easy and convenient victims
of these robbers. They plundered right and left, and were not disturbed
till their young were nearly fledged, when some boys, who had long
before marked them as their prize, rifled the nest.

The song-birds nearly all build low; their cradle is not upon the
tree-top. It is only birds of prey that fear danger from below more than
from above, and that seek the higher branches for their nests. A line
five feet from the ground would run above more than half the nests, and
one ten feet would bound more than three fourths of them. It is only
the oriole and the wood pewee that, as a rule, go higher than this. The
crows and jays and other enemies of the birds have learned to explore
this belt pretty thoroughly. But the leaves and the protective coloring
of most nests baffle the