THE FAERY YEAR 



any man to get them." The rector writes to me : 

 " I am sorry to say that I myself had one of those 

 young ravens. I need hardly say it was not fore- 

 seen that the ravens would forsake the clumps in 

 consequence of the act." It need not lie very heavy 

 on the conscience of a man that half a century ago 

 he had a hand in the taking of some young ravens : 

 the Ancient Mariner might have been shriven before 

 now of such an act. Birds'-nesting was not quite 

 the crime it is to-day ; moreover, a pair or two of 

 ravens must have been harmful from time to time in 

 such a lambing country. Though I never saw a 

 raven in that wild scene, I recall something almost 

 as good. One winter day I watched quite four 

 dozen carrion crows calling to each other, and 

 gathering for the night. In those days I could, as 

 a birds'-nesting boy, get as many carrion crows' eggs 

 in April and May as I wanted. To-day the feeling 

 against the lesser raven is so strong that its extinction, 

 in many of its old strongholds inland, is certain. 

 But there are beetling cliffs by the coast, which 

 nobody scales and robs, where both crow and raven 

 can rear their young in safety. 



The Oak Wood 



The oak wood gives the final scene of autumn 



glow and colour, and this month the oaks surely 



have been richer than for years. To-day the trees 



have passed their prime, and, indeed, are growing 



284 



