232 Corvidce. 



the village, where, frightened almost out of his wits, and trembling 

 with alarm, he declared to the highly amused villagers, who 

 knew the bird and his habits well, that he had met with the 

 arch-fiend in the shape of a big crow, and that he had spoken 

 to him. 



95. CARRION CROW (Coitus Corone). 



So much resembling the last described in form and manners, 

 but of smaller size, that it may well be termed ' the Miniature 

 Raven.' This species is likewise seldom seen in flocks, pairs for 

 life, and maybe found in wooded districts throughout the county. 

 In colour it is jet black, without the metallic lustre so con- 

 spicuous in the plumage of the Raven : it is very bold and a 

 great enemy to young game and eggs as well as to the poultry 

 yard. Its ordinary food, for lack of carrion, which it rarely finds 

 here, is any animal matter it can pick up, and failing this, it 

 contents itself with grain and vegetable diet. 



In reference to the various kinds of food on which it feasts, it 



bears many provincial names, as the ' Carrion Crow,' ' Flesh 



Crow,' ' Gor (or Gore) Crow,' ' Mussel Crow,' etc., and certainly it 



must be allowed to be a very destructive and mischievous bird. 



This was so well-known of old, that an Act was passed in the 



reign of Henry VIII. (1532), requiring every parish to provide a 



Crow net for the thinning of the numbers of this marauder. But 



the desired effect has certainly not yet been produced, for, 



persecuted though it is by gamekeepers and others, few of the 



larger birds contrive to baffle their enemies more than the Crows, 



and I am afraid to say how many nests were found in one season, 



three or four years ago, within the limits of my small parish of 



Yatesbury. The Rev. W. Butt tells me it abounds in the parish 



of Minety, where there are no keepers to molest them, and the 



Rev. C. W. Hony that last year the Rooks at Bishop Cannings 



were so persecuted by Crows, that he feared the lawful owners 



of the rookery would have been driven away. This year (1887), 



I am informed that the Crows have attacked the rookery on Mr. R. 



