108 FIELD-STUDIES OF RARER BIRDS 



complete sideways somersault is executed without 

 any intermediate halt or drifting. I do not think 

 that these antics are performed as some assert 

 while the bird rids itself of parasites, but, firstly, 

 from sheer exuberance of spirits ; secondly, as 

 a parade for the female's benefit it being usually 

 the male who indulges in them ; and, lastly, in 

 anger. The last two beliefs are materially 

 strengthened from the fact that the tumbling is 

 seldom much in evidence until the breeding-season, 

 while the best exhibition of it is given when an 

 intruder threatens the bird's home. 



Altogether, then, the Raven is a fine fellow, 

 and I, for one, should view with feelings of the 

 keenest regret its complete extirpation in the 

 British Archipelago. 



