THE BIRD-LIFE OF LONDON 



the Rook is quite familiar, and the Jackdaw rears its 

 young scarcely a stone's-throw from some of our busiest 

 thoroughfares. The Raven is a solitary bird, seldom more 

 than a pair being seen together ; more frequently it is 

 met with quite alone, but occasionally a party assembles 

 in some spot where food chances to be exceptionally 

 abundant. There are few more prying birds ; it roams 

 its haunts in all directions in quest of food, and its guttural 

 cry of pruck-pruck heard before dawn and after dusk tells 

 that it is abroad early and late in the quest. A pair of 

 Ravens often frequent one particular district for time out 

 of mind, driving off all intruders, and even their own 

 young. The food of the Raven is varied to an astonishing 

 degree. The bird will eat anything and everything, 

 live birds and animals equally with carrion of all sorts, 

 eggs, grain, acorns, marine creatures, fish, and so forth. 

 Its flight is steady and powerful, performed by regular 

 and deliberate wing-beats, and, in the pairing season 

 especially, the bird often indulges in various aerial gambols. 

 The breeding season of the Raven begins with March, 

 the eggs being laid during that and the following month, 

 according to circumstances. The huge nest used formerly 

 to be very often built in a tree, but at the present time 

 the majority of British Ravens resort to cliffs. The nest 

 is made of sticks, mixed with turf and warmly lined 

 with roots, wool, fur, and hair. Some nests are much 

 larger than others, being the accumulation of years. 

 The average clutch of eggs is five. They vary from 

 bluish green to olive-brown in ground colour, spotted, 

 splashed, and freckled with various shades of olive and 

 grey. Occasionally a few very dark brownish specks 

 are seen. The old birds are wary and watchful enough 

 at the nest, and ever ready to beat off any but human 

 intruders. 



The adult Raven is entirely black, glossed with blue 

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