220 THE BIRDS OF IONA AND MULL. 



ceived twelve bad wounds." A pair of ravens breed on Tona, and 

 having one season harried their nest of five eggs, they at once com- 

 menced building another in a still more inaccessible spot on the other 

 side of the island. 



THE HOODED CROW. 



Gaelic, Fionriag, which is derived from skinning or flaying. 

 The black carrion crow is unknown in the western isles, as far as 

 my experience goes, but to make up for it there is no end of hoodie 

 crows. The hoodie has got a terribly bad name, and his best friend 

 could not say much in his favour, supposing he ever had a friend, which 

 I do not suppose is possible. A greedy, cowardly, destructive creature, 

 with an ugly look and hateful voice. But though no doubt ready 

 enough to commit any villany upon young game, eggs, chickens, and 

 even young lambs, yet in these wild districts, where there is not much 

 game to injure, he picks up his subsistence on the bountiful supply 

 afforded by the receding tide, and upon this multiplies exceedingly ; 

 indeed, at feeding time, I might often string five or six at a shot, as 

 they are too fat and impudent to get out of the way. Sometimes a 

 grave synod of these sombre-hued creatures will be gathered round a 

 stranded fish ; another flies up in the air with a crab, which he lets 

 fall to be broken on the rocks beneath. If he fails the first time, he flies 

 a little higher, but he always descends himself so quickly as to alight 

 almost at the same instant as the desired morsel, perhaps lest one of 

 the brethren should put in a claim for it. On the grass above high- 

 water mark are certain favourite rocks where the hoodies carry the 

 molluscs they have picked up to be cracked at their leisure, and these 

 favoured spots are marked by perfect mounds of debris of shells. 

 While busy searching for food, little noise is heard among them, unless 

 a heron or a hawk comes sailing by, and any large bird of this kind is 

 instantly assailed by all the voices and the united strength of the 

 company, which cordially join in frightening off the interloper. They 

 roost at night among the rocks, and in summer their nests are very 

 abundant there, though the birds are not so numerous then, as many 

 of those who only sought winter quarters on the shore retire elsewhere 

 to breed. The nests are generally easily accessible, and the birds are 

 very persistent in replacing the eggs if taken, and rebuilding the nest 

 if destroyed. I have tried the experiment of putting bantam's eggs, 



