6 COUVIDiE. 



make vain attempts to protect them. A favorite method of attack is to seize the tail of the 

 lamb with its powerful bill, and, spreading its wings, be dragged about by the doomed animal 

 until with sheer exhaustion, it falls an easy prey to its relentless captor. They also attack 

 weak slieep, especially during periods of severe drought, when they are in poor condition, and 

 consequently less able to withstand the attacks of their sable plumaged foes. Blindness and a 

 lingering death is the inevitable fate of many that are not strong enough to rise. In wet 

 seasons sheep frequently accumulate a large mass of earth and grass on one or more of their legs, 

 until they are unable to walk about, and this is another harvest for the Ravens. Bogged animals 

 are also easy prey for these birds. Near the bank of the Clarence Ri\er I saw about a dozen 

 Ravens buffeting with their wings a newly born calf that had managed to get down the steep 

 bank, and was standing in the shallow water. This would have shared the ordinary fate only 

 that my youthful companions succeeded in getting it out, and restoring it to the mother on the 

 level ground above the banks. I'requently only tlie eyes of the animals attacked are picked out, 

 and the tongue eaten. Reports of the depredations committed by these birds are common in 

 the nexvspapers during the lambing season. On a large siieep station in western Xew South 

 Wales, even with careful watching, it is estimated that the annual loss incurred by the destruc- 

 tive habits of these birds, varies from /^2oo to £'400 per annum, according to the season. 

 Rewards for " Crows '' heads are offered by many Stock Boards throughout the States, but 

 there is no apparent diminution in their numbers. .\.ll species of the genera Corvus and Corone 

 inhabiting Australia are termed " Crows " by the Stock Boards, but the Raven is the real 

 culprit. Si.xpence per head was paid in the Moree and Narrabri District in 1898 for " Crows," 

 but altogether bonuses were only paid on 844 birds. I found, however, that a large number of 

 ground-frequenting birds had been destroyed by eating the poisoned baits laid for the Ravens. 



In the Official report for the year 1899 of the Stock and Brands liranch of the Department 

 of Klines and .Agriculture of New South Wales-', it is stated that during that year the Pastures 

 and Stock Protection Boards throughout the colony paid a bonus from a id. to 6d. each on 

 142,147 " Crows," Wagga Wagga District heading the list with a total of 24,979 birds destroyed. 



Next to the pastoralist, the vigneron and orchardist suffer most from the depredations of these 

 birds, which eat grapes and nearly every kind of cultivated fruit. In some seasons more than 

 others, about February or March, large flocks of Ravens, descend into the vineyards in the 

 southern part of New South Wales, and commit great havoc, for they have voracious appetities, 

 and both eat and destroy large quantities of grapes. Probably they are more numerous and do 

 more damage in this part of the State, owing to the proximity of the large adjacent plains, the 

 common resort of this species. In orchards tiiey frequently feast upon peaches, plums, and 

 mulberries, and other soft fruits, and even oranges and mandarins. Large flocks of them also 

 do considerable damage in newly planted grain fields. 



Many eggs and young birds are destroyed by Ravens, especially those which are placed in 

 exposed or unprotected situations. They do not destroy the eggs or young of the smaller birds 

 only, but plunder the nests of many of the larger species, particularly of waterfowl, and even 

 combine in cunning to drive the Bustard {Eupodotis australis), and Native Companion {Grus 

 australasianus), off their eggs. Where birds are subject at all times to the predatory attacks 

 of Ravens, some have developed an instinct in safeguarding their eggs from this crafty 

 oppressor. On Yandembah Station, the late Mr. K. H. Bennett, found a nest of the Black- 

 backed Magpie {Gymnorhina tibicen), on the i6th August, 1889, containing a single egg. On 

 climbing to the nest four days after he was surprised to find the egg missing, but noticing that 

 the bottom of the nest presented a more uneven appearance, on making a further examination 

 he found three eggs completely covered with a thick layer of wool and rabbit fur. During the 

 same year he also found two sets of the eggs of the Australian Dotterel {Eudromias australis), 



' Rept. Stock and Brands Branch, Dept. Mines and Agric. N.S.W., Appendix K., p. 31 (1900). 



