240 THE BIRDS OF YORKSHIRE. 



there was a legend to the effect that a hidden box of treasure 

 was guarded by a Raven, which assumed gigantic proportions 

 if anyone attempted to rend its trust. Another item of 

 Cleveland lore was that " When t' Raven and t' Jay call after 

 t' Ullot's abroad, them tweea be ho'dding crack wi' t' restless 

 deead." (See Jay.) 



The only vernacular names are Corbie, used at Sedbergh 

 and in north-west Yorkshire ; and Croupy-Craw, which 

 Swainson gives as used in the " North of England." 



CARRION CROW. 

 Corvus corone (L.). 



Resident, generally but thinly distributed ; scarce in the manu- 

 facturing districts, and decreasing generally. A few pairs nest on the 

 sea cliffs. 



The first mention of this species in connection with York- 

 shire is an item in the Churchwardens' Accounts in the parish of 

 Ecclesfield, near Sheffield, in payment of the expenses incurred 

 in the destruction of vermin : — " 1590. Item for vj crowe 

 heades..jd." This, doubtless, is in accordance with the Act 

 of 24 Henry VIII., which provided for the extirpation of 

 Crows, Rooks, and Choughs. (Pennant, Vol. i., p. 168.) 



Thomas A His, in 1844, wrote of it thus : — 



Corvus corone. — Carrion Crow — Common near Sheffield ; stated 

 by J. Heppenstall to be gregarious in severe weather ; very scarce 

 near Barnsley, and, when met with, almost always in solitary pairs. 

 Common near Huddersfield, but seldom breeds there ; not mentioned 

 as occurring near Halifax, though common near Hebden Bridge ; 

 common in most open and wooded districts. 



The Carrion Crow is a generally, but thinly, distributed 

 resident, being rare in the neighbourhood of large towns 

 and in the manufacturing districts ; on the fells of the north- 

 west it is fairly common, as many as twenty-nine having been 

 seen at one time, and in the dales of the West and North 



