CORVID^E,% ■ 39 



Mr. W. R. Tate lias recorded in the Naturalist for 

 1866, that an albino Starling is in the possession of a 

 carpenter named Craig, at Enfield, which was shot 

 at Slough. 



Family — CORVID^. 



Raven {Corvus corax). Though common many- 

 years ago, this fine bird is very sparingly dispersed in 

 the counties at the present time. 



A few pairs have bred in Windsor Park from 

 time immemorial. They generally select the loftiest 

 trees as a site for their nests. The Rev. C. Wolley 

 informed me that some of these birds bred in the 

 Royal Heronry twenty years ago, and a few still 

 continue to do so. I am not aware of any other loca- 

 lity in either county where they have nested of late 

 years, but stray birds are occasionally seen and killed 

 in various places. 



Carrion Crow {Cowils corone). Common in all 

 parts of the two counties where wood abounds, but rare 

 elsewhere. This species keeps in pairs the whole 

 year, and its great powers of vision enable it to dis- 

 cover a carcase from an immense height. The Carrion 

 Crow certainly does not belie its name ; nothing comes 

 amiss to it ; pheasant's and partridge's eggs, young rab- 

 bits, leverets, dead sheep, snails and grubs, pigeons 

 and mussels, grain, and stinking fish, are all esteemed 

 as the greatest delicacies by this sable robber. 



The topmost boughs of some tall hedgerow tree are 



