RAVEN 173 



the ra-ven has lived in what, to a bird of his grit, must have been 

 a very pleasant garden with a mild and equable temperature 

 throughout the year. Formerly he was a fairly common bird in 

 all parts of our island, and it is probable that some protection was 

 accorded to him by owners of large estates, in spite of his evil 

 reputation, on account of some such sentiment as now exists with 

 regard to the rook. A pair of ravens in a woodland district, 

 Seebohm says, * was often considered the pride and pest of the 

 parish.' But the sentiment, if it existed, was not strong enough, 

 and the constant persecution of the bird by its two principal 

 enemies, the gamekeeper and the shepherd, joined by a third 

 during the present century in the * collector,' has gradually driven it 

 from all, or well-nigh all, its ancient inland haunts, and it now 

 exists in its last strongholds, the rugged iron-bound sea-coast on 

 the northern coasts of Scotland and the neighbouring islands. A 

 few — a very few — pairs are still to be met with on some of the 

 cliffs on the south and south-west coasts of England, and on the 

 Welsh coast ; but even in the rudest and most solitary localities 

 inhabited by it the bu'd can keep its hold on life only by means 

 of a wariness and sagacity exceeding that of most other wild and 

 persecuted species. 



Like most of the members of its family, the raven is omnivorous, 

 feeding indiscriminately on grubs, wornjs, insects, grain, fruit, 

 carrion, and animal food of all kinds. Being so much bigger and 

 more powerful than other crows, with a larger appetite to satisfy, 

 he is more rapacious in his habits, and bolder in attacking animals 

 of large size. He will readily attack a small lamb left by its dam, 

 and pick out its eyes; but, as a rule, his attacks on lambs and 

 sheep are confined to the very young and to the sickly or dying. 

 He also attacks hares, rabbits, and birds of various Jiinds, when he 

 finds them ailing or wounded by shot. He is fond of eggs, as well 

 as of nestlings, and plunders the nests of the sea-birds that inhabit 

 the cliffs in his neighbourhood. But the greatest part of his food 

 consists of dead animal matter cast up by the sea, and carrion of 

 all kinds : a dead sheep will afford him pasture for some days, and 

 keep him out of mischief — for he can be hawk or vulture as occa- 

 sion offers. 



In appearance the raven is a larger rook or carrion crow ; he 

 is a fine bird, and his large size, the uniform blackness of his 

 plumage, and his deep, harsh, and human-like, croaking voice, 

 strongly impress the imagination. But the effect produced on the 



