RAVEN. 239 



of Cleveland " (1808), and, according to J. Hogg (Zool 1845, 

 p. 1106), it built on Huntcliffe near Saltburn. 



Many pages might be filled with stories of the remarkable 

 proclivities of this " uncanny bird," and anecdotes relating 

 to Yorkshire are not wanting. A tame bird at Hedon would 

 repeat the notes of the Cuckoo ; one at Skipton used to throw 

 money out in exchange for meat, and the late John Harrison 

 of Wilstrop had one at large near his house, which climbed into 

 a tree near a rookery and terrified its neighbours by calling 

 out " Hi, Hi ! " in a loud voice. A bird in my possession 

 is an accomplished linguist and very expert at hiding anything 

 which attracts its attention ; in its first winter, when snow fell, 

 it made a number of snowballs which it hid in various caches 

 of its own, but looked utterly woebegone when it went to 

 unearth its treasures and the snow had melted. 



Perhaps the earliest date for nidification is 26th February 

 1902, when a female was observed sitting upon her nest 

 in north-west Yorkshire, and on the 28th of the same month 

 in 1895 a full clutch of eggs was taken in the same locality. 



Of Yorkshire varieties there is a pied specimen, captured 

 in Nidderdate several years ago, in Bewerley Hall collection ; 

 another, of similar plumage, occurred at Snailsworth ; and 

 one, partly pied, was observed on the beach near Loftus- 

 in-Cleveland, on the body of a drowned sailor. 



The Raven figures largely in the folk-lore of Yorkshire, 

 as in other counties, where it is usually considered to be the 

 bird of ill- omen, and its presence or croaking is believed to 

 prognosticate death ; while several place-names indicate that 

 it was familiar to the inhabitants in olden days ; thus we 

 find Raven's Roe, a rocky promontory near Ingleton ; Raven's 

 Scar, near Great Whernside ; Raven's Crag or Ravenseat, 

 in Swaledale; and Raven's Gill, Pateley. A relic of the 

 connection between the Raven standard and the Danes 

 seems to exist in the West Riding, where naughty children 

 are told that a black Raven will come and fetch them ; and 

 Raven Hill, between Whitby and Sandsend, may indicate 

 the spot where the Danes landed on their invasion of that 

 part of the North Riding. At Guisbrough in Cleveland, 



