80 BRITISH BIRDS' EGGS. 



Eaven, is the Carrion Crow, inhabiting chiefly wooded dis- 

 tricts, and preferring as its food animal matter either newly 

 killed or in a state of carrion ; yet it feeds on other sub- 

 stances. It is persecuted for its attacks on game, poultry, 

 weak lambs, and fallen sheep ; " from the latter," says Sir 

 Wm. Jardine, "we have at times seen the eyes torn out 

 before the animal was dead, and before it could be relieved." 

 The nest, built of sticks cemented with clay, and lined first 

 with roots and then with softer materials, is generally placed 

 in a tree, far above the ground, and the eggs, four or five 

 in number, greatly resemble in colour those of the Eaven, 

 Hooded Crow, and Eook, all being green varied with brown 

 blotches and markings; in size however they are much 

 smaller than those of the Eaven. In varieties of all these 

 eggs the tints of green and the depth of the brown mark- 

 ings differ considerably. (PL IV. fig. 18.) 



THE HOODED OR EOYSTON CROW. Corvus comix. This 

 Crow, like the last, is predatory in its habits, but its prey 

 consists chiefly of the eggs and young of birds, and of such 

 marine animal productions as are cast upon the shore -, oc- 

 casionally it is said to attack young lambs. It seldom 

 breeds inland, but prefers the cliffs of the seacoast, where 

 its nest is placed on a ledge of rock, or on some stunted 



