264 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 



thus be diverted from the latter I cannot say. One 

 thing is certain the man who gave the order for 

 the ravens' destruction has been dead for years, 

 while the man who harried the nest is alive still 

 and hearty, although nearly seventy years old. 

 Last summer he climbed up one of the finest 

 trees in the district like a squirrel. 



The late E. T. Booth, whose matchless collec- 

 tion, which he generously left for the public benefit, 

 shows his ardent search for the beautiful feathered 

 creatures that are to be found in our island, has a 

 good word to say for the raven. Writing in 1876, 

 after a visit to Perthshire, he observes : " Few, if 

 any, of these ravens (referring to some he saw 

 there) had been bred in the immediate neighbour- 

 hood, having in all probability crossed the hills 

 from the northern countries or the western islands. 

 At that time of year they were perfectly harm- 

 less on the ground, preying only on wounded game 

 or hares, and, as they always left that quarter 

 before the breeding season, their visits were bene- 

 ficial rather than otherwise." And again he says : 

 "They were at all times so eager to make a meal 

 off the dead game with which we baited our traps, 



