258 THE NATURAL HISTORY 



the parent birds year after year send their young 

 families out into the world vi et armis to seek their 

 fortunes. Last year it was long past Midsummer when 

 this annual event took place, and, as it involved no 

 small amount of angry demonstration and unmusical 

 croaking evening after evening among the trees nearest 

 the house, I was a frequent witness of their domestic 

 squabbles long after twilight had marked the close of 

 ' parting day,' and more exemplary birds had retired 

 for the night. With the last generation of keepers the 

 ravens bore but an indifferent character : they were 

 deemed guilty of frequent infringements of the Game 

 Laws, especially that of helping themselves liberally 

 to pheasants' eggs poaching them in fact. As a" 

 natural consequence a war of extermination, extending 

 over many years, was waged against them, and in 

 those days many an unlucky raven, old as well as 

 young, was sacrificed ; but it is as well and as widely 

 known here as any other fact in Natural History, that 

 the survivor of the pair, after disappearing for a time, 

 invariably returned with another partner. A few years 

 ago I took their eggs, but in an incredibly short time 

 afterwards they had another nest not two hundred 

 yards from their favourite clump, and succeeded in 

 rearing their young so that it would seem to be a 

 difficult affair to expel them, even if such an enormity 

 were now attempted ; but I am happy to say that the 

 lady of these acres will not allow them to be molested 

 on any consideration whatever accordingly, she is 

 rewarded every spring with the satisfaction of seeing 

 how jealously they guard their clump at nesting time.* 



* Alas ! the kind-hearted Lady here referred to, the late Lady 

 Fetherstonhaugh, ended her exemplary life in January, 1874, 

 some years after the above sentence was penned. Her gentle 

 memory is fondly and justly cherished by those who knew her 

 best, and would most assuredly be more generally appreciated 

 than it is, if her numerous acts of benevolence and charity had 

 not been too unostentatious to be as widely known as they 

 deserved to be. 



