89 



BAVEN. 



CORBIE. CORBIE-CROW. GREAT CORBIE-CROW. 



PLATE XLIII. 



Corvus corax, PENNANT. MONTAGU. 



NIDIPICATION commences early, even in the coldest climates: here 

 sometimes so 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, fir, 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. 



The eggs are four, five, six, or seven in number, of a bluish green 

 colour, blotted with stains of a darker shade, or brown: they vary 

 much in shape. 



One variety is pale grey, slightly dotted with a few distinct dots 

 and marks. 



A second is light green, with a few dashes and many small marka 

 of a darker hue. 



A third, pale greenish grey, marked thickly all over with small marks. 



A fourth is dull pale olive green, with oblong marks and dots all 

 over. 



A fifth is pale greenish, striated and blotted with small blots all over. 



A sixth is pale olivaceous green, marked in a similar way. 

 VOL. i. N 



