CORVUS CORAX. 523 



[§ 2791. 0;?^-.— Icklingham Heath, 20 April, 1857. 



This was from a second nest of the same pair of birds, in the old hurst, and 

 taken by the gamekeeper. It was rotten, and another egg, in the act of hatching, 

 and two young birds just hatched were also in the nest. My brother seems to 

 have been present.] 



[^ 2792. i^owr.— Icklingham Belt, 11 March, 1858. "A. N." 



This nest was found by my brother on the 8th of February, and a few days 

 after I went with him to it ; but I left it till the 11th of March, when I felt 

 sure there must be eggs, though not more than a week before I had seen one 

 of the old birds at the house with a big stick in its beak, flying off with it 

 after letting me come within fifteen yards. On the day last named I met the 

 gamekeeper by appointment at the nest, which he himself had found in the 

 meanwhile. As I rode across the heath I heard the old birds' well-known 

 croak of anger and distress, and saw them dashing about wildly. Arrived at 

 the nest I found that he had already', contrary to my ordei's, been up to it, and 

 had taken out four of the seven eggs. As the Icklingham warrener was 

 present, I did not think it advisable to send our man up again, that I might see 

 the remaining eggs, which he assured me were just like those he had already 

 brought down — two of them he had picked out because he found by shaking 

 them that they were already addled. Accordingly I packed them up and came 

 away, the warrener promising, in return for a gift, that the birds should be no 

 further molested. This nest was about half-way up the belt, and nearly in a 

 straight line between the old Raven's hurst and the drift-way at the end of 

 the Duke's Ride Plantation.] 



[^ 2793. Fo^/r.— Elveden, 1-23 March, 1859. "A. & E. N." 



On the 19th of February my brother and I rode out to see if we could find 

 the Ravens' nest. In the Icklingham Belt there was that of last year ( § 2792) 

 still standing, but untenanted, and nearly in the middle of the old hurst on the 

 heath was one of former years; but the tree was dead, owing to so many of 

 its neighbours having been cut down. Of course we saw the old pale-coloured 

 Falcon which always haunts the heath at this time of year. On the 23rd of 

 February the gamekeeper came to say that he had found the Ravens' nest at 

 the lower end of the Duke's Ride Plantation, and in the course of the day we 

 went to it. My brother got up the tree, which was an easy one to climb, and 

 by no means one of the highest, though with a good thick head. The nest 

 contained an egg, and he unfortunately bad no pencil with him to mark it, but 

 he took a good look at it that he might know it again. On the Ist of March 

 we went again to the nest, and he got up as before, finding six eggs, three of 

 which he took, and among them what he believes to have been the first laid 

 one, which is now marked accordingly. 



