hustler the robin is! No wonder he gets on in the world. He is
early, he is handy, he is adaptive, he is tenacious. Before the leaves
are out in April the female begins her nest, concealing it as much as
she can in a tree-crotch, or placing it under a shed or porch, or even
under an overhanging bank upon the ground. One spring a robin built
her nest upon the ladder that was hung up beneath the eaves of the
wagon-shed. Having occasion to use the ladder, we placed the nest on a
box that stood beneath it. The robin was disturbed at first, but soon
went on with her incubating in the new and more exposed position. The
same spring one built her nest upon a beam in a half-finished fruit
house, going out and in through the unshingled roof. One day, just as
the eggs were hatched, we completed the roof, and kept up a hammering
about the place till near night; the mother robin scolded a good deal,
but she did not desert her young, and soon found her way in and out
the door.

If a robin makes up her mind to build upon your porch, and you make up
your mind that you do not want her there, there is likely to be
considerable trouble on both sides before the matter is settled. The
robin gets the start of you in the morning, and has her heap of dry
grass and straws in place before the jealous broom is stirring, and
she persists after you have cleaned out her rubbish half a dozen
times. Before you have discouraged her, you may have to shunt her off
of every plate or other "coign of vantage" with boards or shingles. A
strenuous bird indeed, and a hustler.

VIII. THE CROW

One very cold winter's morning, after a fall of nearly two feet of
snow, as I came out of my door three crows were perched in an apple
tree but a few rods away. One of them uttered a peculiar caw as they
saw me, but they did not fly away. It was not the usual high-keyed
note of alarm. It may have meant "Look out!" yet it seemed to me like
the asking of alms: "Here we are, three hungry neighbors of yours;
give us food." So I brought out the entrails and legs of a chicken,
and placed them upon the snow. The crows very soon discovered what I
had done, and with the usual suspicious movement of the closed wings
which has the effect of emphasizing the birds' alertness, approached
and devoured the food or carried it away. But there, was not the least
strife or dispute among them over the food. Indeed, each seemed ready
to give precedence to the