The Royston Crow.] OF ORKNEY. 47 



Ravens have been sometimes seen white, and though this 

 is but seldom the case, I have heard of two or three examples, 

 both in these and rooks, though not all in Orkney : of the 

 latter it was impossible, as they are seldom, if ever, seen here. 



Species 2. The Royston Crow. 



Will. Orn. 124. Raii Syn. Av. 36. Mart. Disc. West. Isles, 376. Hooded- 

 Crow, Sib. Scot. 15. Corvus Cornix, Lin.Sys. 156. Brit.Zool. 169. Ore. 

 Crow. 



VERY numerous here through the whole year ; like the 

 other builds in the rocks, and in breeding-time is destructive 

 to chickens ; at other times is not so bold, but contents itself 

 with any garbage, or the insects that breed in dung, &c. 



It is more familiar than the corby, and continues the whole 

 winter about the houses, till the calls of love draw it out with 

 the rest of the feathered tribe to their summer retreats. 



Its nest is composed of a great quantity of sticks, placed 

 in the hollow of a rock (trees we have none fit), and lined with 

 softer materials, such as wool, pieces of cloth, and, in a word, 

 every thing it can pick up. It lays from four to six- eggs, 

 which are green, spotted with black, as those of the other 

 species of the crow kind mostly are. 



These meet in the spring in vast flocks, as if to consult the 

 important affairs of summer, and, after flying about in this 



