148 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES. 



been attributable to the gradual disappearance 

 from our great woods of most of the tall old trees 

 on which he loved to build, and perhaps to the 

 absence of that superstitious veneration with 

 which this bird is still regarded in some districts 

 of England ; but more especially to the hostility 

 of the gamekeeper, in whose black book he once 

 occupied a prominent place. 



During ten months out of the twelve you may 

 now find a pair of ravens in Petworth Park : per- 

 chance, if the sky be clear, you may perceive them 

 soaring aloft, at such a height as would almost 

 ensure their escape from observation, were it not 

 for their joyous and exulting barks, which, in 

 spite of the distance, fall distinctly on the ear ; or 

 if the weather be wet and gloomy, you may see 

 them perched on the summit of one of the huge 

 hollow oaks in the flat of the park, the crooked 

 and withered branch on which they sit projecting 

 like the horn of some gigantic stag from the dense 

 foliage ; or perhaps you may find them concealed 

 in their snug retreat among the evergreen boughs 

 of a clump of Scotch firs near the tower hill,* 

 their favourite haunt during the last five years, 



* From the summit of the tower there is one of the 

 finest panoramic views in the county. 



