Ch. XLIV.] ON BIRDS. 549 



Of all the species of the crow-tribe, the raven — 



" That hateful messenger of heavy things, 

 Of death and dolour telling" — 

 is the most obnoxious ; for as his acute sense of smelling attracts him to 

 the dying, his harsli croak, when heard in illness, causes terror and alarm, 

 as ominous of a fatal issue. He is, therefore, dreaded by the timid ; and his 

 presence is hateful to the farmer, as he makes a prey of young poultry and 

 lambs. So carnivorous, indeed, is he, that if he perceives a grown sheep in 

 such a state of disease as to be unable to rise, he may be seen cautiously 

 wheeling round in gradually narrower circles, until, at last, he pounces 

 upon the defenceless animal, whose eyes he plucks out, and then, tearing 

 him open with his beak, gluts upon his entrails. He is, however, rather a 

 rare bird in England, and is in some respects useful as a devourer of putrid 

 matter. 



The oxol is also in disrepute, as an inauspicious foreteller of domestic 

 calamity ; and he is killed both on that account and on a very false 

 presumption that he destroys chickens and the young of game ; whereas the 

 lact is, that his diet consists chiefly of field-mice, of which he consumes 

 great numbers : so much so, indeed, that we are told by AVhite, of Selborne, 

 that he has observed them returning, every five minutes, to the nest, each 

 with a field-mouse in his claws. He ought, therefore, to be viewed as a 

 friend to the farmer, and instead of being destroyed, the breed should be 

 encouraged *. 



Neither can we altogether 'agree in the abuse so largely bestowed by 

 Cobbett upon the wood-pigeon, or cushat; for although, if not well 

 watched, both he and the tame species will make sad havoc among the peas, 

 yet their other spoliations are rather exaggerated. In corroboration of wliich, 

 an amusing instance has been recorded by the late Mr. Hogg. 



" One morning my maid comes in, and says, ' Master, aw wuss ye 

 wud reise out o' yer bed, an' shoot thae cusha doos. Od, it's ma 

 belief they're gaun wi' the young clover bodily, an' that they'll no 



at times perform for our pasture lands. There is no plant that I endeavour to root out 

 with more persistency, in these places, than the leafy hair-grass {Jira Ccespitosa). 

 The larger turfs we pretty well get rid of; but the multitudes of small roots are so 

 interwoven with the pasture herbage, that we cannot separate them without injury ; and 

 these our persevering rooks stock up for us in such quantities, that in some seasons the 

 fields are strewed with the eradicated plimts. The object of tlie bh-d in performing this 

 service, is to obtain the larva) of several species of insects, underground-feeders, that prey 

 on the roots ; and I do not believe that he ever removes a specimen that has nut already 

 been eaten or commenced upon by the caterpillars." Ibid., vol. ii., p. 308. 



* " I cannot but notice two growing evils, of which but little notice is taken: — 

 1st. The number of insects in the lands, owing to the loss of rooks by felling so many 

 rookeries, and not taking care of what are left. 2ndlj'. The increase of mice, of which, 

 were 1 to give my opinion as to quantity and damage done, but few would give credit to 

 it. I have, at different times, had five mice killfd to every coomb of corn moved off 

 the stacks in the summer season, and sometimes double that quantity ; besides being on 

 every other part of the premises, corn and grass pieces not excepted. Some are driven 

 into the bams and stacks in wet seasons, but when wheat stands long in the shock, we 

 are sure to have most mice in our barns and stacks, except where they are driven away 

 by other vermin. In my memory, there were twenty grey owls where there are now 

 one ; and though the coimtry was in a rougher state, we had not so many mice. The 

 owls prey very much on them, and in wet weather they are more exposed to the owl 

 than any other kind of vermin. The (/rey owl is destroyed by the game-keepers, and by 

 felling the pollards. I have seen a young hare in their nest, but never saw a young 

 pheasant or partridge. The white, or church-owL is not so destructive to game ; and 

 were there places made withinside the top of one end of every barn, like a box, for them 

 to pass through as they come into the barn, they would there make their nests, and, 

 becoming more numerous, would be of great service." — Norfolk Rep. p. 531, 



