RAVEN 



CORBIE CORBIE-CROW GREAT CORBIE CROW. 



PLATE XLIII. 

 Corvus corax, ...... LINNAEUS. 



THE nesting of the Raven commences early, even in the 

 coldest climates, here sometimes as soon as January ; 

 and the eggs have been taken in the middle of February. 

 Incubation lasts about twenty days ; the male and female 

 both sit, and the former feeds and attends upon the latter. 



The nest, which is large, and composed of sticks, 

 cemented together with mud, and lined with roots, wool, 

 fur, and such materials, is placed in various situations in 

 the clefts of the branches of tall trees, Church towers, 

 caves, cliffs, and precipices. The mausoleum in the park 

 of Castle Howard, the seat of Lord Carlisle, in Yorkshire, 

 is still resorted to for that purpose. 



"In the north," writes Mr. Booth, "this species nests on 

 ledges, and in crevices among the rugged and broken slabs 

 of stone in the most inaccessible parts of the inland 

 mountains, and also in wild rocky precipices overhanging 

 the sea. On various parts of the coast a few stragglers 

 may still be met with all round our islands. The nest 

 itself is a large coarse structure, heather-stalks being freely 

 used in its composition in the barren districts of the north, 

 and the architects making use of whatever branches and 



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