178 Northern Observations of Inland Birds 



with the golden eagle, not very long ago I was shooting 

 in the Perthshire Highlands when I noticed a constant 

 stream of grouse flying down a corrie and distributing 

 themselves over the mountain face below. This general 

 move was somewhat mystifying till a little while later an 

 eagle appeared, working leisurely down the glen. Here, 

 then, was the cause of the disturbance. The grouse 

 simply forsook the vicinity, the mountain hares crept 

 under the peat banks, and silence fell upon the moor 

 save for the persistent croaking of a raven somewhere 

 near. Presently I saw the bird, strutting heedlessly about 

 a flat-topped boulder some distance from me, and entirely 

 indiflferent to the passing of the king of the upper air. 



On another occasion an eagle swooped round a shoulder 

 of the mountain quite near to myself and the stalker, 

 scattering the grouse like chaff, and a raven, seated by a 

 pool of water, found himself between us and the eagle. 

 He crouched, in the act of rising, but seemed to think 

 better of it, waiting until the eagle had passed before he 

 took flight. On both these occasions, be it noted, the 

 raven did not actually rise into the air while the eagle was 

 there, so there may be a tacit understanding that this 

 simple token of respect is all that is demanded from 

 corvus cor ax. 



The formidable bill of the raven is doubtless responsible 

 for the cool fearlessness of character which distinguishes 

 this black-coated ruffian as one so much apart, and unless 

 one has witnessed the enormous hammering powers of 

 that sable bill it is hard to conceive that so light a weapon 

 could attain such astounding results. Some years ago 

 I noticed by a small creek in British Columbia a number 

 of freshwater mussel shells lying in the shallow water. 

 I took one out and tried to break into it with the point 

 of my knife, but the shell was so hard that, in consideration 

 for the knife, I abandoned the attack. Even when 



