V, 



Iona, 24th March 1852. 



You will be glad to hear that the charm of the Raven's nest has 

 been broken ; that we attempted it last week, and succeeded in 

 harrying it. It contained five eggs ; and I will willingly consign 

 to you my share, though I have a companion who lays claim to 

 half of the plunder. The nest was situated on a very dangerous 

 cliff, not in the same place as the old nest. The beetling crag 

 overhung it so as to make it invisible from above, except from 

 a projecting ledge about a gunshot further on. The old shep- 

 herd had stipulated with me that the Raven was to be shot ; 

 but he was so eager to point out the right position for seeing 

 the nest, that he obstructed my aim at the critical moment 

 of the bird's launching herself off the nest. Shepherds of 

 course have a hereditary hatred of Ravens, but I was glad 

 that she escaped, as I have no grudge against her, and I 

 could not have saved her skin, for she would have fallen into 

 the stormy waves far down beneath the nest. I was dis- 

 appointed in the size of the eggs, as they are not larger than 

 those of the Hooded Crow ; they are of a longer shape, and 

 their colour is a fine deep greenish blue, and with few or no 

 spots. 



I was out walking this evening, since writing the above, and 

 I saw the two Ravens evidently choosing a locality for trying a 

 new nest. One of them had a piece of moss or wool in its bill. 



