XXX RIVERSIDE LETTERS 237 



me, I waved my stick and shouted as loud as 

 I could, which alarmed the crow and he made 

 off, and soon afterwards the gull went in 

 another direction. 



Carrion crows are not very common about 

 here, they can easily be mistaken for rooks ; 

 they are, however, a trifle smaller, and if any- 

 thing more glossy, and have not the whitish 

 excrescence over their beaks which character- 

 ises the rook ; they are generally seen in 

 pairs and haunt some particular locality. 

 The one in question was one of a pair that 

 had their nest in a horse-chestnut tree close 

 by the spot where the attack on the gull took 

 place ; I have noticed this pair repeatedly at 

 that part of the river, usually seeing them 

 feeding on the banks, I should say on dead 

 fish or mussels. 



In shape the bird greatly resembles a raven, 

 and its note is more like a raven's croak than 

 a rook's caw. I am told that they are very 

 fierce birds, and that they often attack other 

 birds, sometimes pecking out their eyes, and 



