ligent Crow built for itself a summer residence in an
airy tree near Bombay, the material used being gold, silver, and steel
spectacle frames, which the bird had stolen from an optician of that
city. Eighty-four frames had been used for this purpose, and they were
so ingeniously woven together that the nest was quite a work of art.
The eggs are variable, or rather individual, in their markings, and
even in their size. The Crow rarely uses the same nest twice, although
he frequently repairs to the same locality from year to year. He is
remarkable for his attachment to his mate and young, surpassing the
Fawn and Turtle Dove in conjugal courtesy.

The Somali Arabs bear a deadly hatred toward the Crow. The origin of
their detestation is the superstition that during the flight of Mohammed
from his enemies, he hid himself in a cave, where he was perceived by
the Crow, at that time a bird of light plumage, who, when he saw the
pursuers approaching the spot, perched above Mohammed's hiding place,
and screamed, "Ghar! Ghar!" (cave! cave!) so as to indicate the place
of concealment. His enemies, however, did not understand the bird, and
passed on, and Mohammed, when he came out of the cave, clothed the Crow
in perpetual black, and commanded him to cry "Ghar" as long as Crows
should live.

And he lives to a good old age. Instances are not rare where he has
attained to half a century, without great loss of activity or failure of
sight.

At Red Bank, a few miles northeast of Cincinnati, on the Little Miami
River, in the bottoms, large flocks of Crows congregate the year around.
A few miles away, high upon Walnut Hills, is a Crow roost, and in the
late afternoons the Crows, singly, in pairs, and in flocks, are seen on
the wing, flying heavily, with full crops, on the way to the roost, from
which they descend in the early morning, crying "Caw! Caw!" to the
fields of the newly planted, growing, or matured corn, or corn stacks,
as the season may provide.

THE RETURN OF THE BIRDS.

"Everywhere the blue sky belongs to them and is their appointed
rest, and their native country, and their own natural home
which they enter unannounced as lords that are certainly
expected, and yet there is a silent joy at their arrival."

The return of the birds to their real home in the North, where they
build their nests and rear their young, is regarded by all genuine
lovers of earth's messengers of gladness and gayety as