170 BIRDS A^D MAN 



add much to the loss. No doubt the raven kills 

 other creatures that are preserved for sport, but it 

 does not appear that its extermination has improved 

 things in Somerset. Thirty years ago, when black- 

 game was more plentiful than it is now, the raven 

 was to be met with throughout the county, and was 

 abundant on Exmoor and the Quantocks. The old 

 head keeper on the Forest of Exmoor told me that 

 when he took the place, twenty-five years ago, ravens, 

 carrion crows, buzzards, and hawks of various kinds 

 were very abundant, and that the war he had waged 

 against them for a quarter of a century had well-nigh 

 extirpated all these species. He had kept a careful 

 record of all birds killed, noting the species in every 

 case, as he was paid for all, but the reward varied, the 

 largest sum being given for the largest birds ravens 

 and buzzards. His book shows that in one year, a 

 quarter of a century ago, he was paid for fifty-two 

 ravens shot and trapped. After that the number 

 annually diminished rapidly, and for several years 

 past not one raven had been killed. 



At present one may go from end to end of the 

 county, which is a long one, and find no raven ; 

 but in very many places, from North Devon to the 

 borders of Gloucestershire, one would find accounts of 

 " last ravens." Even in the comparatively populous 



