BIRDS 39 



82. — RAVEN. Corvus corax corax L. 



Resident ; not uncommon in the west ; much rarer in the east. 



Nests in trees are rare nowada3^s but in 1908 a countryman 

 li\dng amongst the hills behind Abergele told me that on a 

 certain estate there where there is no keeper, the Raven nests 

 amiually, always in a tree. A nest near Llangollen in 1912, 

 contained a full clutch of six eggs as early as 26th February. 

 In 1910 a pair nested on Puffin Island and reared three j'oung 

 (King and Owen). Dr. N. F. Ticehurst saw a party of five on 

 Bardsey, 12th June, 1913. On 21st July, 1913, Mr. H. G. Attlee 

 observed an extraordinary gathering of Ravens, at least twelve in 

 number, at Penrhyndeudraeth : thej' had probably been drawn 

 together by a dead sheep or some such attraction. 



Mi-, G. J. Williams tells me that the Raven used to be very 

 numerous at Ffestiniog up to the middle of last century : 

 scores were kUled in some seasons. There are entries in the 

 parish vestrj'' book of payments of Is. 3d. for an old Raven, 

 and Ihd. for a " Raven's chicken." As the birds became 

 rarer 2s. 6d. was paid for an old Raven and Is. 3d, for a 

 " chicken." 



Mr. C. Oldham sends me a number of records showing that 

 in Snowdonia and Anglesey the Raven still holds its own. 

 On 16th August, 1911, ten were seen at the carcase of a pony 

 on Carnedd Llewelyn. On 9th June, 1914, he saw at Trer 

 Ceiri a Raven hotly pursued by a Kestrel, and on 31st July 

 two Ravens chased by probably the same bird. One at Porth 

 Ceiriad was mobbed by three Carrion Crows, which swooped 

 at it repeatedlj'-, sometimes two at once, but it always avoided 

 the attack by swerving and tilting its body. It made no 

 attempt to retaliate but croaked and dropped its legs when 

 a Crow came at it. 



Mr. H. Ecroyd Smith records in the Liverpool Naturalists' Journal, 

 1867, p. 161, that on the Little Orme's Head " these birds are 

 more or less gregarious in winter, but upon the earliest approach 

 of spring, and even before their congeners— the Rooks — ^are 

 mating, a general excitement occurs. The male birds have 

 a glorious fight, and the ultimate victor in the encounter remains 

 for the season undisturbed master of the whole headland, the 

 discomfited remainder retiring, some to the Great Orme's Head, 

 and others to solitary fastnesses among the hills inland, leaving 

 the champion in comparatively undisturbed possession, the 

 Blue-Rock Pigeons, Razorbills, Guillemots, and Herring Gulls, 

 being far too few to disturb his noble majesty." 



Mr. Ecroyd Smith appears to have overlooked the pair of 

 Peregrine Falcons which tenant the Orme's Heads every year, 

 and who are unquestionably " Lords of the Manor." 



