32 BIRD LIFE IN WILD WALES 



If the vial of the keeper's wrath is poured out 

 against the Raptorial Birds, it is certainly doubly so 

 on the Crow tribe ; and a pair of this family have a 

 sorry chance of bringing off a brood in the preserves 

 if he is at all up to his duties. In consequence the 

 Carrion Crow is a scarce bird in many localities, and 

 he is by no means a desirable fellow in the coverts, 

 though we have a liking for him because of many 

 happy hours spent in the Vale of Aylesbury, in some 

 parts of which he abounded, probably because little 

 or .no preserving is done there. Not seldom have we 

 lighted on half a dozen nests or more in the course of 

 one day. This bird, we have noticed, is a very early 

 riser, and his harsh " cra-cra-craw " may be heard 

 long before the break of dawn ; whilst with the light 

 he can be seen quartering the ground every bit as 

 well as the best trained pointer, and woe betide the 

 unfortunate leveret or young rabbit that he comes 

 across ! He is, however, in his diet generally omni- 

 vorous, readily appropriating anything that comes to 

 hand. A sickly lamb runs but a poor chance against 

 that iron bill, and his partiality for ducklings we have 

 witnessed on more than one occasion. Eggs of all 

 kinds, too, are taken greedily. His eggs also vary to 

 a marked degree even in the same clutch, and are 

 generally a size larger than the Rook's ; but this test 

 is not infallible. We have never known this species 

 use the same nest more than once, but generally it 

 returns to the same spot and builds a fresh one in a 

 tree somewhere near the old tenement. The nest 

 itself is a small edition of the Raven's. It is built of 

 sticks of varying lengths heather branches when 



