CORVUS CORONE. 455 



sweepstakes were being played on Carnoustie green, on driving 

 from the " tee" at the sixth hole a carrion crow swooped down 

 upon the ball, rolled it until it got firm hold with its beak, and 

 flew off with it. The player followed, shouting to make it drop 

 the ball, but no use ; so he lost his ball — another proof that 

 it was its keen eyes, not scent, that detected its fancied prey. 

 As a proof of its wariness, Mr Weir knew a nest, and wanted 

 the old pair for specimens ; but so long as they had eggs he 

 could not get within shot. He waited till the young were ripe, 

 made a screen of branches near their nest, crept in, and lay 

 three hours ; but, instead of feeding their young, they hovered 

 about, croaking loudly. They had detected his ruse. He took 

 down the screen, made another under a thick hedge with whins 

 to defy detection, crept in, and again waited several hours ; still 

 no use — they had seen him go in. His next ruse was to take a 

 lad with him, and both went in next day. The boy came out, 

 covered the entrance, and walked away. They followed him a 

 long way, croaking triumphantly, then returned and perched 

 500 yards off. They remained an hour, looking around with 

 jealous care. At last the female alighted on a tree near her 

 nest, stood motionless for a quarter of an hour, then fed her 

 young. When she flew away the male came and fed them. 

 They did this in rapid succession, till he got tired in his 

 cramped lair, and shot the male. He returned three days after 

 to shoot the female, and was surprised to see two crows alight 

 on the nest, and feed the young — she had found another mate. 

 He shot her, so his pair was complete. But not content — for 

 (unlike Nature's feathered carrion crow) man is never satiated 

 with slaughter — he went back next day, crept into his lair, and 

 meanly shot the noble corby in the very act of feeding his 

 adopted brood in the midst of well-known danger, while this 

 less noble type of humanity left them in their nest to starve. 

 All he said was, " It was one of the finest crows he ever saw." 

 He " once shot a female with all her brood, just as she was 

 putting part of a bird into the mouth of one of them ;" and 

 again, " anxious to get the pair," he took one of the dead young 

 ones out of the nest, sent it with a boy to a rookery to pick out 

 four rooks the same size for the male to feed until he went back 

 again in two days, and " shot him in the very act of feeding the 

 young rooks with grubs" — proof positive they breed at the 

 same time. Strange, this carrion crow seemed to know the 

 young rooks were his adopted charge, to be fed with grubs ; 

 and seems to bear out the opinion of some authors that they 



