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THE CARRION CROW 65 
what appeared to be grass, inaccessible from below, but commanded 
by a venturous climber from above. Where it still continues to 
breed inland, it places its nest, constructed of sticks and lined 
with the wool and fur of its victims, either on an inaccessible rock, 
or near the summit of a lofty tree, the ill-omened ‘ Raven-tree’ 
of romances. In the north of Scotland, in the Orkneys and Heb- 
rides, where it is still abundant, it builds its nest in cliffs which it 
judges to be inaccessible, both inland and on the sea-shore, showing 
no marked preference for either. Two pairs never frequent the 
same locality, nor is any other bird of prey permitted to establish 
itself in their vicinity. Even the Eagle treats the Raven with 
respect, and leaves it to its solitude, not so much from fear of its 
prowess, as worn out by its pertinacious resistance ot all dangerous 
intruders. Hence, in some districts, shepherds encourage Ravens, 
because they serve as a repellant to Eagles ; while in others, where 
Eagles are of unusual occurrence, they allow them to build their 
nests undisturbed, but when the young are almost fledged, destroy 
them by throwing stones at them from above. Nevertheless the 
original pair continues to haunt the same locality for an indefinite 
term of years, and it is not a little singular that if one of them 
be killed, the survivor will find a mate in an incredibly short space 
of time. 
The geographical range of the Raven is very extensive. Through- 
out all the zones of the Northern Hemisphere it is to be found ; 
and having this wide range, its physical constitution is strong, and 
it lives to a great age, amounting, so the ancients tell us, to twenty- 
seven times the period of a man’s life. The note of the Raven is 
well described by the word ‘ croak’, but it is said by those who have 
had the opportunity of observing it under various circumstances, 
to utter another sound, resembling the word ‘ whit-ur’. With this 
cry it very commonly intermixes another, sounding like ‘ clung’, 
uttered very much as by a human voice, only a little wilder in the 
sound. From the cry croak the Raven no doubt derives its 
Latin name Corvus the French Corbeau, and its common Scotch 
appellation Corbve. 
THE CARRION CROW 
CORVUS CORONE 
. Black, with green and violet reflections; tail slightly rounded, extending an 
inch and a quarter beyond the closed wings; iris dark hazel; lower part 
of the beak covered with bristly feathers ; beak and feet black. Length 
nineteen inches; breadth three feet. Eggs bluish green, spotted and 
speckled with ash-grey and olive. 
BREEDING early in the year, like the Raven, the Carrion Crow builds 
its nest in some tree which, from its loftiness or other reason, is 
difficult of ascent, where its young ones are hatched about the 
B.B. ¥ 
