212 RURAL BIRD LIFE. 



footsteps greet her ear ; though if the intruder be one of 

 her natural enemies she will fight fiercely in defence of 

 her eggs. When the young are hatched the Carrion 

 Crow, made bold by their incessant clamourings for 

 food, pays frequent visits to the poultry yard, and 

 carries off the Chickens and Ducklings, on which to feed 

 them. If a Pheasant or Partridge be driven from her 

 nest without opportunity of covering her eggs, they are 

 often spied out by the Carrion Crow, and borne off one 

 by one in his strong bill. The young are soon aban- 

 doned by their parents after gaining the use of their 

 wings, and these again probably separate until the 

 following season bids them seek the company of a 

 mate. 



The Carrion Crow is an early riser, sometimes being 

 abroad before the Rooks, and long before sunrise, and 

 when the gray streaks of morning appear in the sky his 

 harsh and discordant cry is heard as he winnows his way 

 through the air from his roosting place to the distant 

 feeding grounds. This bird is one not very particular as 

 to the choice of his food. He will eat almost anything, 

 from an insect to an acorn ; from the helpless chicks to 

 the feeble wounded hare or rabbit ; from a living mouse 

 or rat to the most noisome carrion. Judging from his 

 somewhat varied tastes, the Carrion Crow is a bird sadly 

 persecuted by the gamekeeper and henwife. Yet withal 

 his services .could ill be spared, as he is one of Nature's 

 greatest scavengers, and his few little failings are amply 

 repaid by the good he undoubtedly performs. I also 

 think the wooded districts and the wild, the inland moor 

 and the rocky coast, are greatly enhanced in beauty by 

 the bold, yet wary, prying, active, and graceful Carrion 

 Crow. 



