Once the alarm note of a crow is heard and its meaning understood, you can always tell when those keen-eyed birds have discovered a hawk or an owl. "Hak, hak, hak, hak, hak," they call, much louder, quicker, and in a higher key than the regular "caw, caw, caw." Rarely do they strike a hawk or owl, but they keep diving at it until it soars beyond their reach, or takes shelter in a tree.
Notes
October Thirteenth
If you can surprise a muskrat in a small pond, notice that he does not use his front feet (which are not webbed) in swimming; but, like the frog and the toad, holds them close against the sides of his body. Ordinarily the tail is used as a rudder, but when he is hard pressed, he whirls it round and round so that it acts like a screw propeller.
October Fourteenth
The brook trout is another fish that builds a nest. It makes a hollow in the bed of a brook or a spring, pushing the gravel aside with its nose, and carrying the stones in its mouth. By using its tail the cavity is shaped and then filled with pebbles, on which the eggs are laid, and covered with gravel. These "spawning" beds can now be seen in any spring-fed trout stream.
October Fifteenth
As soon as the foliage falls from the trees it is easy to collect birds' nests; and it is no sin to do so then, inasmuch as the birds mentioned this week rarely use the same nest a second season. Take a trip into the country with the sole object of hunting for nests, and you will be surprised to see how many you can find. One hundred and ninety-eight bird homes have been counted during a three hours' walk. When it is possible to take a part of the limb to which a nest is attached, it is best to do so.