92 BIRDS OF LANCASHIRE. 



building in the steeples of St. Ann's and St. Mary's, two 

 churches in the vicinity, pilfering the sticks as fast as 

 they brought them to their nests. In winter the 

 Eookeries (which are almost always in trees which 

 shed their leaves in winter) are deserted, and the birds 

 may be seen night and morning flying to and from the 

 woods of the district which are in the warmest and 

 most sheltered situations. A spell of mild weather, 

 however, always induces Eooks to visit the nests, and 

 they may often be seen at such a time in December and 

 January, repairing them, and bowing to each other on 

 the branches in mistaken congratulations on the return 

 of spring. The Rook is an early breeder, and lays its 

 five eggs or so from the middle of March to the middle 

 of April, according to the weather. 



RAVEN. 



CoRvus coRAX, Linnseus. 



Resident, and still breeding on some of the wilder 

 hills in the north of the county. It is seldom seen on 

 the lower ground except in severe frost, and, at such 

 times, is as seldom permitted to return to its mountains. 

 It used to breed in Wyresdale, and has done so within 

 living memory at Thievely Scouts in Cliviger ; some- 

 times yet being seen on Pendle Hill ; while a few years 

 ago a pair appeared in Bowland, but were hunted out of 

 the neighbourhood. [This or another pair bred at Bow- 

 land in 1886, but the nest was robbed on 14th March. — 

 Ed.] There are few of the hill-districts without some 

 rocky crag which takes its name from this bird. Scattered 

 examples of this species have been killed in winter 



