VERMIN 131 



they never observed me, though I was concealed within 

 forty yards. The old grouse succeeded in driving the 

 crows off before they got a young one. The siege 

 continued for fully twenty minutes, when one of the 

 crows, in circling round, at last got his eye on me, 

 and uttered that peculiar call to his mate, when they 

 both quickly winged their way up the glen. On going 

 to the spot, I found a lot of feathers lying about, and 

 certainly but for my presence they would have suc- 

 ceeded in their merciless work. 



Setting the game-preserver aside, the destruction of 

 these birds is necessary in the interest of the stock- 

 farmer. Recently, on the farm of Cardon, in Peebles- 

 shire, shortly before lambing, a blackfaced ewe had 

 both her eyes pecked out by a hoodie-crow. Fortu- 

 nately she was discovered alive, and with careful nursing 

 the animal recovered and gave birth to a lamb, which 

 she successfully reared. When the shepherd called 

 for her, it was interesting to see her run and eat 

 porridge out of a basin. Writing on a subsequent 

 occasion, the owner of the ewe said : " This spring 

 a blackfaced ewe hogg had been treated in the same 

 barbarous way, and had to be destroyed." 



The magpie feeds much in the same manner as the 

 hoodie, though it searches amongst underwood more, 

 in order to get at the nests of small birds. The nests 

 of the pheasant and partridge are very frequently dis- 

 covered by the magpie's sharp, piercing eyes, after 

 which shells will be found minus the contents. The 



