lp him, too, by eating worms and insects.

During the spring and summer I live in my nest on the top of a very
high tree. It is built of sticks and grasses and straw and string and
anything else I can pick up. But in the fall, I and all my relations and
friends live together in great roosts or rookeries. What good times we
do have--hunting all day for food and talking all night. Wouldn't you
like to be with us?

The farmer who lives in the house over there went to the mill to-day
with a load of corn.

One of the ears dropped out of the wagon and it didn't take me long to
find it. I have eaten all I can possibly hold and am wondering now what
is the best thing to do. If you were in my place would you leave it here
and not tell anybody and come back to-morrow and finish it? Or would you
fly off and get Mrs. Crow and some of the children to come and finish
it? I believe I'll fly and get them. Good-bye.

Caw! Caw! Caw!

[Illustration: COMMON CROW.]

THE COMMON CROW.

"The crow doth sing as merry as the lark,
When neither is attended."

Few birds have more interesting characteristics than the Common Crow,
being, in many of his actions, very like the Raven, especially in his
love for carrion. Like the Raven, he has been known to attack game,
although his inferior size forces him to call to his assistance the aid
of his fellows to cope with larger creatures. Rabbits and hares are
frequently the prey of this bird which pounces on them as they steal
abroad to feed. His food consists of reptiles, frogs, and lizards; he
is a plunderer of other birds' nests. On the seashore he finds crabs,
shrimps and inhabited shells, which he ingeniously cracks by flying with
them to a great height and letting them fall upon a convenient rock.

The crow is seen in single pairs or in little bands of four or five.
In the autumn evenings, however, they assemble in considerable flocks
before going to roost and make a wonderful chattering, as if comparing
notes of the events of the day.

The nest of the Crow is placed in some tree remote from habitations of
other birds. Although large and very conspicuous at a distance, it is
fixed upon one of the topmost branches quite out of reach of the hand of
the adventurous urchin who longs to secure its contents. It is loosely
made and saucer shaped. Sticks and softer substances are used to
construct it, and it is lined with hair and fibrous roots. Very recently
a thrifty and intel