512 CORVUS CORAX. 



of moorfowls (Red Grouse), and carries away the contents, 

 whether eggs or young chicks ; and as he is strong, as well as 

 sly and sagacious, he no doubt kills many of the moorfowls 

 themselves after they are full grown. But the Raven is a 

 magnanimous bird compared with the Hoddie or Carrion Crow, 

 which descends to the most despicable shifts, and employs the 

 most cruel methods to support itself that can well be imagined." 



In the northern parts of Scotland, the Hebrides, the Orkney 

 and Shetland Islands, according to my own observation and 

 that of other individuals, the raven constructs its nest on high 

 cliffs, both in the interior, and, more especially, along the sea- 

 shore. But in the southern parts of the island, where rocks 

 are not so common as tall trees, it is said frequently to nestle 

 in the latter. According to the locality, it begins to repair its 

 nest, or to collect materials for forming a new one, as early as 

 from the beginning to the end of February. In the Hebrides, 

 it is composed of twigs of heath, dry sea-weeds, grass, wool, 

 and feathers. It is of irregular construction, and very bulky, 

 not unlike that of the eagle, but with a deeper cavity. The 

 eggs are from four to seven, of a rather elongated oval form, 

 pale green, with small spots and blotches of greenish-brown 

 and grey, having an oblong form. They vary in length from 

 two inches and one twelfth to one inch and eleven twelfths, 

 and in their largest transverse diameter from one inch and five 

 twelfths to one and four twelfths, or somewhat less. 



White, the historian of Selborne, gives the following account 

 of a raven's nest in his neighbourhood. ''In the centre of a 

 grove, stood an oak, w^hich, though shapely and tall on the 

 whole, bulged out into a large excrescence about the middle of 

 the stem. On this a pair of ravens had fixed their nest for 

 such a series of years, that the oak was distinguished by the 

 name of the Raven's Tree. Many were the attempts of the 

 neighbouring youths to get at the eyrie ; the difficulty whetted 

 their inclinations, and each was ambitious of surmounting the 

 ardent task. But when they arrived at the swelling, it jutted 

 out so in their way, and was so far beyond their grasp, that the 

 most daring lads were awed, and acknowledged the undertak- 

 ing to be too hazardous. So the ravens built on, nest upon 



