CROWS IN LONDON 25 



The original ' raven tree ' on which this pair had 

 nested for many years was cut down, after which 

 the birds built a nest in a clump of seven elm- 

 trees, known locally as the ' seven sisters,' 

 live of which are still standing. 



In London the last pair had ceased to breed 

 about twenty years earlier ; and of a hundred 

 histories of ' last ravens ' to be met with in all 

 parts of the country, that of these London birds 

 is by no means the least interesting, and is 

 worth relating again. 



Down to about 1826 this pair bred annually 

 on one of the large elms in Hyde Park, until it 

 entered into the head of one of the park keepers 

 to pull down the nest containing young birds. 

 The name and subsequent history of this injurious 

 wretch have not been handed down. Doubtless 

 he has long gone to his account ; and let us add 

 the pious wish that his soul, along with the souls 

 of all those who were wanton destroyers of 

 man's feathered fellow-creatures, is now being 

 driven, like a snow-flake, round and round the 

 icy pole in that everlasting whirlwind described 

 by Courthope in his ' Paradise of Birds.' 



The old ravens, deprived of their young, 

 forsook the park. One of the young birds was 



