194 THE LIFE OF THE FIELDS. 



specimen in the British Isles were destroyed to-day 

 there -would be an influx from abroad in a very short 

 time. The crow is, too, partly a sea-coast feeder, and 

 so escapes. Still, to anyone who knows how deter- 

 mined is the hostility to his race shown by all country- 

 people, his existence in any number must be considered 

 remarkable. His more powerful congener the raven, 

 as has been pointed out, is practically extinct in 

 southern counties, and no longer attacks the shepherd's 

 weakly lambs. Why, then, does the crow live on ? 

 Wherever a pair of ravens do exist the landowner 

 generally preserves them now, as interesting represen- 

 tatives of old times. They are taken care of; people 

 go to see them ; the appearance of eggs in the nest is 

 recorded. But the raven does not multiply. Barn 

 owls live on, though not in all districts. Influenced 

 by the remonstrance of naturalists, many gentlemen 

 have stopped the destruction of owls ; but a custom 

 once established is not easily put an end to. 



Jays and magpies have also been subjected to a bitter 

 warfare of extermination. Magpies are quite shot off 

 some places ; in others they exist sparingly ; here and 

 there they may be found in fair numbers. Occasion- 

 ally their nests are preserved indeed, the growing 

 tendency is to spare. Still, they have been shot off 

 rigorously, and have survived it. So have jays. In 

 large woods particularly where there is much fir 

 jays are so numerous that to destroy them seems 

 almost impossible. Another bird that has defied tho 

 gun and trap is the green woodpecker, which used to 

 be killed for alleged destruction of timber. Wood- 

 peckers are not now so ceaselessly killed, though the 



