106 FIELD-STUDIES OF RARER BIRDS 



is not always easy of discovery, and especially 

 on a wooded cliff, or on one composed of broken-up 

 outcrops of rock and turf-covered slopes, or bare 

 screes, alternating, as contrasted with a sheer preci- 

 pice. For in the former cases the bird is apt to 

 be a far lighter sitter, while, in any case, the sticks 

 employed in the construction of the nest harmonize 

 marvellously with the rocks. The surest road to 

 instant success lies in marking the male care- 

 fully when first observed on or over a likely spot 

 in the cliff. At this stage he is tolerably sure of 

 revealing the approximate site of his home, 

 either by standing on a ledge or pinnacle in its 

 immediate neighbourhood, or by busily driving off 

 any intruding bird in the air above. The hen 

 may then be viewed stealing away and for so 

 large a bird she relinquishes her treasures very 

 quietly keeping close in to the rock face for some 

 distance before swinging up and thoroughly 

 revealing herself; but should she be missed, there 

 only remains a careful scrutiny, either through the 

 glasses, or by climbing about the crags, if their 

 formation permits of it, always recollecting that 

 many splashings of ' ' whitewash ' down the 

 rocks generally betoken the near presence of the 

 secret. 



It does not seem quite clear why the Raven is 

 so early a breeder, because in many respects it is 

 closely akin to the Carrion- and Hooded Crows, 

 both of which species are generally, for the larger 



