RA^'Ex^^ 507 



ordinary circumstances, few ravens are seen, so many as from 

 twenty to two hundred or more should collect in a few days. 

 In perambulating these islands, one scarcely meets with more 

 than a pair in the space of a mile or so ; and in Harris, where 

 their breeding places were pretty generally knovrn to me, I could 

 not count a dozen pairs along a coast-line of as many miles. 

 In Pabbay, as mentioned above, several hundreds had come to- 

 gether, so that the people naturally marvelled whence they had 

 arrived. If along a coast-line of ten miles there are ten pairs 

 of ravens, with five young birds to each, or seventy in all, on 

 one of a hundred and forty there might be nearly a thousand. 

 Pabbay is two miles distant from Berneray, and six from Har- 

 ris. Even should the wind blow in the latter direction, it is 

 not likely that a raven should smell carrion six miles distant, 

 and in Berneray, which the effluvia might reach, there are not 

 usually more than three or four resident pairs. The birds of 

 the west coast of Lewis, South Uist, and Barray, could not be 

 guided a distance of fifty miles or more by the smell. How 

 then did they arrive in Pabbay ? It seems to ine that the phe- 

 nomenon may be explained thus. 



The two pairs of ravens residing in Pabbay itself, would, 

 with their broods, first perceive the carcases. Those of Ber- 

 neray might stroll over, as they often do, or they might see the 

 prey, as might those on the Harris coast. Ravens have char- 

 acter in their flight, as men have in their w^alk. A poet saunter- 

 ing by a river, a conchologist or fish-woman looking for shells 

 along the shore, a sportsman searching the fields, a footman 

 going on a message, a lady running home from a shower, or a 

 gentleman retreating from a mad bull, move each in a different 

 manner, suiting the action to the occasion. Ravens do the 

 same, as well as other birds ; and so, those at the next station, 

 perhaps a mile distant, judging by the flight of their neighbours 

 that they had a prize in view, might naturally follow. In this 

 manner, the intelligence might be communicated over a large 

 extent of country, and in a single day a great number might 

 assemble. We know from observation that ravens can per- 

 ceive an object at a great distance, but that they can smell food 

 a quarter of a miJe off we have no proof whatever ; and as we 



