another big tree and his little beady, bright eyes began searching all
the branches carefully. Pretty soon Fatty smiled. He smiled because he
was pleased. And he was pleased because he saw exactly what he had been
looking for. Not far below him was a big nest, built of sticks and lined
with bark and moss. It was a crow's nest, Fatty decided, and he lost no
time in slipping down to the crotch of the tree where the nest was
perched.

There were four white eggs in the nest--the biggest crow's eggs Fatty
had ever seen. And he began to eat them hungrily. His nose became
smeared with egg, but he didn't mind that at all. He kept thinking how
good the eggs tasted--and how he wished there were more of them.

There was a sudden rush through the branches of the tall tree. And Fatty
Coon caught a hard blow on his head. He felt something sharp sink into
his back, too. And he clutched at the edge of the nest to keep from
falling.

Fatty was surprised, to say the least, for he had never known crows to
fight like that. And he was frightened, because his back hurt. He
couldn't fight, because he was afraid he would fall if he let go of the
nest.

There was nothing to do but run home as fast as he could. Fatty tried to
hurry; but there was that bird, beating and clawing his back, and
pulling him first one way and then another. He began to think he would
never reach home. But at last he came to the old poplar where his mother
lived. And soon, to his great joy, he reached the hole in the big
branch; and you may well believe that Fatty was glad to slip down into
the darkness where his mother, and his brother Blackie, and Fluffy and