242 BRITISH BIRDS. 



The young on the first few occasions that we visited 

 the nest flattened themselves down, and each with its 

 head on one side looked up with wide open grey eye. 

 Later they sat and stared at us unconcernedly or at times 

 uneasily. They grew very rapidly, their beaks, at first 

 flesh-colour, became black at the base, and the patch 

 spread down to meet a similar patch from the tip of the 

 beak, and strong bristles developed. They gradually 

 spent more and more time in preening and less in sleep. 

 They seemed very hardy and took no notice of either 

 rain, hail or snow. One of the young was larger and 

 considerably more advanced than the other, and its voice 

 deeper pitched, so as to make me think that they were 

 male and female. The Raven language, like the Hoodies', 

 is far simpler than the Rook's. When annoyed they 

 uttered short, sharp, high-pitched barks. When all was 

 well the note was low and almost musical ; there were 

 generally three notes in a series. Towards the end of 

 their time on the nest each after preening would back 

 to the edge of the nest and then flap its wings vigorously 

 for a minute or two at a time. 



The shepherds told us that the young generally leave 

 the nest from May 1st to May 12th, according to the 

 number of the brood, and that ours would probably fly 

 on the former date. They said six was the largest brood 

 they remembered. 



Our young would probably have flown before May 1st, 

 but for the fact that we had to take the precaution of 

 clipping their wings, for one, having been frightened off 

 the nest by Earl on April 26th, took us three hours to 

 recover. Nevertheless both took their flight on May 1st 

 escorted by their excited parents, which they nearly 

 equalled in size, only two of the central tail-feathers of 

 the young showing quill at this date. 



