90 HILL BIRDS OF SCOTLAND 



paratively tame, since there it has not experienced the 

 persecution which has rendered it so wary a bird in these 

 Islands. In the Maritime Alps the Raven is not un- 

 common ; I have met with it at Peira Cava, near Nice, 

 at a height of 5000 feet above sea-level, where it probably 

 nests in the forests of spruce and silver fir ; and I saw one 

 pursue an Eagle from its beat near the frontier between 

 France and Italy. 



Description. — The adult male has the entire plumage 

 black, richly glossed with steel blue and purple, these 

 colours being most apparent on the upper parts of the 

 body, head, neck, and ui)per surface of the wings. The 

 feathers of the throat are lanceolate, much elongated, 

 and richly glossed with purple. The tail is wedge-shaped, 

 the central feathers being longer than the lateral ones. 

 The bill and legs are shining black, iris brown. The total 

 length is about 26 inches ; culmen,3'7; the extent of wings 

 may be 52 inches ; tail, lO'l ; tarsus, 2-65. The fourth 

 primary is the longest, the third only a trifle shorter, the 

 second one inch less than the third, and the first three 

 inches less than the second. 



The female is a trifle less in size than the male, and not 

 quite so bright in her plumage. 



Compared to the adult birds, the young fledgelings are 

 duller in colour, while the feathers on the throat are loose 

 in texture and are not lanceolate. In Northern Europe 

 partial albinos have from time to time been met with, 

 especially in Iceland and in the Faroe Islands. 



