RAVENS. 199 



brood, it lasts but for a time ; and as is the case with 

 Eagles, and indeed almost all birds, when the young 

 ones are sufficiently matured to take care of themselves, 

 the old ones invariably drive them away and live inde- 

 pendently. We have noticed their hostility to the Jack- 

 daws and other birds daring to intrude on their favourite 

 haunts; they are themselves, however, occasionally very 

 outrageous marauders on the property of others. Between 

 Rooks and Ravens, if a rookery perchance is within 

 visiting distance of a Raven's abode, there is eternal 

 warfare; and no wonder, for they will venture to attack 

 the very nests, and carry oif the unfledged Rooks as food 

 for their own young; and those who are partial to rook- 

 eries have found it necessary to shoot the Ravens and 

 destroy their nests, as the only eifectual means of keeping 

 peace amongst the Rooks. But notwithstanding the 

 Raven's superior courage, he does not always succeed; 

 for not only Rooks but Carrion Crows will sometimes 

 put them to flight. A person once heard an uncommon 

 chattering and clamour proceeding from a tree, and 

 going near to learn the cause, observed no less than 

 three Ravens successively issue from the tree, followed 

 bv a single Crow, which pursued and drove them fairly 

 off. 



Generally speaking, they are solitary birds, the same 

 pair only remaining together; but occasionally this is 

 not the case, particularly in the northern parts of Eu- 

 rope, where they are more abundant, and are often seen 

 in greater numbers. Thus, in the month of June, 1832, 

 a party leaving the Bay of Kirkwall, in the Orkney 

 Islands, north of Scotland, counted twenty-four of these 

 birds passing over their heads flying towards the north; 

 they were very near to each other, and followed in the 

 same way as Rooks usually do in returning to their 

 rookery; and about a week afterwards twenty-six were 

 observed by the same party flying to the southward. 

 There is reason however to believe, that these assem- 

 blages of Ravens ought not to be admitted as proofs of 



