THE RAVEN. 159 



soar high in air over the nest, uttering, besides their usual croak of alarm or 

 anger, a curious sound, like the noise made by drawing a tightly fitting cork 

 from a bottle, occasionally turning complete somersaults in the air, and making 

 ferocious stoops in the direction of the invader, but always keeping well out of 

 gunshot-range. For some time after the young Ravens leave the nest they roam 

 in company with their parents, but soon separate and start off singly or in 

 couples on marauding expeditions on their own account." 



Although not strictly speaking a gregarious species, this bird when attracted 

 by food often assembles in considerable numbers ; when approaching a carcass it 

 does not fly directly to it, but alights at a short distance and approaches it 

 warily with heavy ungainly hops. Upon the wing it flaps heavily, but its flight 

 nevertheless is powerful and tolerably rapid. 



The nest of the Raven is always bulky, though more so when built on 

 ledges of rocks than when placed in trees ; it consists of sticks, twigs, heather- 

 stems, and sometimes a tangle of sheep's wool. The lining is of roots, grass, 

 wool, fur, or other soft materials. The eggs number from four to six, frequently 

 five ; in ground-colour they usually vary from greenish-blue to olive- greenish 

 more or less densely marked with deep olive-brown, the shell markings appearing 

 frequently like smears or faint patches of the same colour (as if partly washed 

 out) ; the pattern and character of the markings vary much as usual, sometimes 

 the streaks and blotches are few and large, sometimes they are mingled with 

 numerous smaller markings, sometimes again the small spots are so close together 

 as to give a different tone to the egg; the depth of the markings also varies 

 much, at times almost approaching black. Seebohni speaks of a variety of rare 

 occurrence which is " reddish- white in ground-colour, spotted with rich reddish- 

 brown and splashed with violet-grey." Of the examples represented on our plate 

 figs. 229, 231, and 232 are from Mr. A. B. Farn's collection; fig. 230 is one of 

 a series of eggs collected some years since and given to me by my friend Dr. 

 Vincent Blachford, who took them at Charlton, All Saints, near Salisbury. 



The commonest note of the Raven has been variously described as cruck, 

 cruck, or pruck, pruck ; to me it sounds like whurk, ivhurk ; its note of rage has 

 been described as " a menacing bark " and " an angry hoarse growl." 



The food consists of grain, berries, fruit, insects, worms, mollusca, reptiles, 

 batrachians, eggs, young poultry and game, sickly lambs, rats, moles and carrion 

 of all kinds. 



Mr. E. C. Phillips in a paper on the Birds of Breconshire (Zoologist 1882, 

 pp. 45-46) says : " This bird lives to a great age. When a boy, in Wiltshire, I 

 used to pay a visit generally on a Sunday to some friends that lived in a 



