174 BIRDS OF THE WEST OF SCOTLAND. 



flight with extraordinary celerity and perseverance, quite unlike 

 the usual stately flight of a large bird of prey; the crow was so 

 buffeted that he uttered several despairing cries as if his punish- 

 ment was more than enough. Captain Cameron of Glenbrittle 

 has also informed me that he has seen a pair of grey crows rifle 

 a sea eagle's nest, and break and devour the eggs as determinedly 

 as if they were those of some innocent grouse. 



In North Uist, Benbecula, and other parts of the Long Island, 

 which may be considered the stronghold of these " foules of reife" 

 in Great Britain, the nests are found in rocks and also on the 

 ground among the heather under shelter of broken boulders, 

 where the rough aspect of the nursery harmonizes with the wild 

 character of the occupants. Occasionally a pair will take up 

 their quarters on the roof of a hut and bring out their young 

 ones unmolested a proof that to some of the natives at least 

 their habits are a matter of indifference. On the gables of most 

 of the huts there are two crossed sticks projecting from the roof, 

 for the purpose of binding down the bunches of heather with 

 which the huts are thatched, and I have seen as many as six and 

 eight crows roosting on these at a time; hence the perch is called 

 "maidhe feannag," which means literally the crow's stick. 



Compared with the hooded crows found in the eastern counties 

 of Scotland, these Hebridean birds have often appeared to me to 

 be smaller and less robust. This difference is not, however, more 

 apparent than that existing between home bred and migratory 

 birds of other species, of which the skylark and the common 

 bunting are familiar examples. In the central districts where the 

 mixed breed occurs, the same inferiority in size is observable; but 

 there are besides other differences almost corroborative of Sir 

 William Jardine's observations on the carrion crow, namely, that 

 in some of the Argyleshire specimens the grey markings do not 

 occupy much more than half the usual space.* At a recent meeting 



* On the other hand, hooded crows have been met with in Skye and else- 

 where with the wings of a light grey like the back, and have been noticed to 

 occur more frequently in hard winters than at other times. The late Dr Flem- 

 ing (Brit. An., 1828) makes a similar remark in connection with this species, 

 and adds "Female, wanting the grey: Young, like the female." Selby says 

 (111. Br. Orn., i., p. 352) that sometimes this bird varies in colour and is found 

 entirely white or black a remark which he appears to have borrowed from 

 Temminck, whose exact words are as follows: " Varie amidentellement," comme 

 les espdces pre'ce'dentes (carrion crow) ; sou vent le plumage entierement blanc, 

 ou presque totalement noiratre." 



