CROWS. 133 



venge until the young ones, full grown and fat, 

 are peeping over the brink of the nest, and almost 

 ready to abandon it altogether. He would always 

 delay his attack till this period, but as the young 

 advance in age and size, the more extensively and 

 recklessly do their parents cater for their support. 



" When Ravens set out on a long journey they 

 always travel in pairs, and so high in the air, 

 that were it not for their frequent crying, they 

 would escape notice altogether. So great is the 

 height at which they fly, that no cliff or peak, 

 however lofty, can cause them to swerve from 

 the direct course on which they are bent." * 



In the southern parts of Britain, where pre- 

 cipitous rocks are uncommon, the Raven usually 

 selects as its breeding-place some lofty tree, using 

 the same for successive years. White, in his 

 charming " Natural History of Selborne," has 

 mentioned such an one, and recorded the tragical 

 fate of its possessor. " In the centre of this 

 grove," says he, " there stood an oak, which, 

 though shapely and tall on the whole, bulged 

 out into a large excrescence about the middle of 

 the stem. On this a pair of Ravens had fixed 

 their residence for such a series of years, that the 

 oak was distinguished by the title of the Raven- 

 tree. Many were- the attempts of the neighbour- 

 ing youths to get at this eyry ; the difficulty 

 whetted their inclinations, and each was ambi- 

 tious of surmounting the arduous task. But 

 when they arrived at the swelling, it jutted out 

 so in their way, and was so far beyond their 

 grasp, that the most daring lads were awed, and 

 acknowledged the undertaking to be too hazard- 



* Zoologist, i. 215. 



