102 FIELD-STUDIES OF RARER BIRDS 



sometimes even then another, and even a third (if 

 evil overtakes the second) is practically always pro- 

 duced, sometimes, too, in the same nest, after an 

 interval of about three weeks. That is, the fresh 

 set is completed by the end of that period. I 

 remember one Raven which laid eleven eggs in 

 succession, first a " five," which was taken, then 

 a ' six." Only one brood is reared in the 

 year. 



The Raven is decidedly variable as to the close- 

 ness of its sitting, though this depends not a little 

 on the position of the nest. Usually great 

 reluctance is shown about returning to it, so long 

 as the explorer is anywhere visible. Sometimes, by 

 approaching the site from above and then by 

 leaning cautiously over the cliff, you may for a 

 fleeting instant watch the giant crow brooding ; 

 but more generally, no matter how you approach 

 it, and long ere this, sometimes even while you 

 are still a great way off, the angry barks of its 

 partner ' tumbling" and diving through the air 

 above the haunt have sent the sitter hurriedly 

 flapping from its rocky retreat. The non- 

 incubating bird is seldom far off or long absent 

 from its citadel, but either patrols the valley or 

 moorland in its vicinity, or else takes up a position 

 on some crag or pinnacle hard-by, which com- 

 mands all approaches from below and, if possible, 

 those from above. Once or twice, however, even 

 with the sentinel thoroughly aroused, I have had 



