THE CARRION CROW 65 



Vv hat appeared to be grass, inaccessible from below, but commanded 

 by a venturous climber from above. Where it still continues to 

 breed inland, it places its nest, constructed of sticks and lined 

 with the wool and fur of its victims, either on an inaccessible rock, 

 or near the summit of a lofty tree, the ill-omened ' Raven-tree ' 

 of romances. In the north of Scotland, in the Orkneys and Heb- 

 rides, where it is still abundant, it builds its nest in cliffs which it 

 judges to be inaccessible, both inland and on the sea-shore, showing 

 no marked preference for either. Two pairs never frequent the 

 same locality, nor is any other bird of prey permitted to establish 

 itself in their vicinity. Even the Eagle treats the Raven with 

 respect, and leaves it to its solitude, not so much from fear of its 

 prowess, as worn out by its pertinacious resistance of all dangerous 

 intruders. Hence, in some districts, shepherds encourage Ravens, 

 because they serve as a repellant to Eagles ; while in others, where 

 Eagles are of unusual occurrence, they allow them to build their 

 nests undisturbed, but when the young are almost fledged, destroy 

 them by throwing stones at them from above. Nevertheless the 

 original pair continues to haunt the same locality for an indefinite 

 term of years, and it is not a little singular that if one of them 

 be killed, the survivor will find a mate in an incredibly short space 

 of time. 



The geographical range of the Raven is very extensive. Through- 

 out all the zones of the Northern Hemisphere it is to be found ; 

 and having this wide range, its physical constitution is strong, and 

 it lives to a great age, amounting, so the ancients tell us, to twenty- 

 seven times the period of a man's life. The note of the Raven is 

 well described by the word ' croak ', but it is said by those who have 

 had the opportunity of observing it under various circumstances, 

 to utter another sound, resembling the word ' whii-ur '. With this 

 cry it very commonly intermixes another, sounding like ' clung ', 

 uttered very much as by a human voice, only a little wilder in the 

 sound. From the cry croak the Raven no doubt derives its 

 Latin name Corvus the French Corbeau, and its common Scotch 

 appellation Corbie. 



THE CARRION CROW 



CORVUS CORONE 



Black, with green and violet reflections ; tail slightly rounded, extending an 

 inch and a quarter beyond the closed wings ; iris dark hazel ; lower part 

 of the beak covered with bristly feathers ; beak and feet black. Length 

 nineteen inches ; breadth three feet. Eggs bluish green, spotted and 

 speckled with ash-grey and olive. 



Breeding early in the year, like the Raven, the Carrion Crow builds 

 its nest in some tree which, from its loftiness or other reason, is 

 difficult of ascent, where its young ones are hatched about the 



B.B. F 



