4 British Birds. 



considerable havoc among the sheep farms, as it attacks wounded or sickly sheep, 

 as well as fawns, and. in fact, will eat ever^thmg from a rat to a chicken, while it 

 also feeds on carrion. 



This is a much smaller bird than the Raven, and has a some- 



what dift'erently shaped wing. In habits it is very like a Raven, 



CARRION -CROW. , . j. ri ,■ i j,i J. ... 



but IS of course not so powerful a bird, and like that species, it is 

 (Connie cor one.] 



generally seen in pairs, though occasionally it is said to assemble in 



flocks. The eggs resemble those of other Crows, all of which have a family likeness. 



The Carrion-Crow is less common in the South of luigland than it is in Scotland and 



Wales, and it often mates with a Hooded Crow, producing a curious hybrid which 



shows the saddle-back and light-coloured breast of the latter bird, though these pale 



portions of the body are always more or less intermi.xed with black smudges and spots. 



This Crow, often called the • Royston ' or ' Danish ' Crow, is 



""^ better known as a migrant than as a resident of Great Britain, 



HOODED CROW. , , , , , . ■ , . j- . . t .i 



though the species also breeds witli us in certain districts, i o the 

 (Corone cornix.\ 



eastern counties come numbers of Hooded Crows in the autumn 



from Scandinavia and Russia, when they distribute themselves over the Midlands, 

 though the bulk remain near the coasts. In Norway they arc by no means uncommon 

 in summer, and harry the nests of the Willow-Grouse as they do those of our Red 

 Grouse on the northern moors. One which I brought up from the nest in 1896 proved 

 to be the most amusing and, at the same time, the most mischievous of pets. His 

 affection was at all times embarrassing to its object, and was demonstrated by tweaks, 

 pinches, and digs at one's head, or attempts to bite a piece out of one's ear. This 

 individual was never caged, and would absent himself from home for half the day, 

 but he never failed to appear the moment we came back from our day's fishing, and 

 would fly out half-a-mile to welcome us. 



Some ornithologists disagree with the Crows being placed at the head of the 

 Perching Birds, and argue that the Thrushes and Warblers should have this place of 

 honour, on account of their wonderful development of singing powers. No one 

 seems to have credited a Crow with any such a faculty, but my Hooded Crow would 

 sit for an hour at a time, croaking forth his melody, which really constituted a by no 

 means despicable effort at a song. It was only when he fancied himself quite 

 unobserved that he gave vent to his feelings, and he would fly up to his perch in 

 a garden house, and thence proceed to utter the most e.xtraordinary succession of 

 notes it is possible to imagine. He certainly fancied himself immensely, for he raised 

 his crest and puffed out all the feathers of his throat, and was evidently of the opinion 

 that the Thrushes and Blackbirds could do nothing equal to his own song. The 

 nest and eggs of the Hooded Crow resemble those of the Carrion Crow. 



The Jackdaw is the smallest of the true Crows in Great Britain, 

 THE JACKDAW. ^^^^ diflersfrom them in its nesting place, which is almo.st invariably 

 (CoUeus i}ioneiiu!u.) , , , r t • i 



in a building or m the hole of a tree. It is also to a certain e.xtent 



