12 LADY DAY IN DEVON 

 wastes the green plovers wheel and fall, 

 uttering wild calls to the wind, while their 

 mates stand below, diving with broad pinions 

 to earth as though they would die for love. 

 High above a buzzard is sailing. To the 

 right a great horse draws a plough against 

 the skyline, and a dozen gulls follow in its 

 wake; behind them trip and whistle four 

 dishwashers, or wagtails. They say in the 

 village that three pairs of ravens are nesting 

 on the headland this year; I have seen but 

 one. In this district a raven has only once 

 been known to kill or " eye-pick " lambs, 

 but that was many years ago, and then their 

 breeding ledge was robbed in revenge. 

 The raven has come near to extermination, 

 like the peregrine falcon; but here both of 

 these mighty fliers rarely molest the belong- 

 ings of man; the one feeds on offal and 

 dead rabbits that the stoats have left, and 

 the other takes stock doves, oystercatchers, 

 wild duck, snipe, and ring plover. In the 

 early spring they stoop at gulls and diving 



