1 10 THE CARRION CROW : 



" Time's glory is to calm contending Kings, .... 

 To fill with worm-holes stately monuments, . . . 

 To pluck the quills from ancient ravens' wings.'' 



Lucrece. 



Next to the raven, the Carrion-Crow (Corvus corone) 

 claims our attention, from his close relationship to his 

 larger congener. So closely, indeed, does he resemble the 

 raven upon a slightly modified scale, that we might also 

 fancy him — 



" A crow of the same nest." 



All's Well that Ends Well, Act iv. Sc. 3. 



Like him, he leads a predatory life, carrying off young 

 game-birds, chickens, and eggs ; and where he cannot 

 obtain a fresh meal, he has no objection to carrion and 

 offal of all kinds. Should a sheep die in the field, the 

 crows of the neighbourhood are sure to be attracted to it. 



" The fold stands empty in the drowned field, 

 And crows are fatted with the murrain flock." 



Midsummer Night's Dream, Act. ii. Sc. 1 . 



Gamekeepers, knowing this propensity, and having an 

 eye to the better preservation of pheasants' eggs for the 

 future, avail themselves of the opportunity, when a sheep 

 dies, to place a little strychnine in the mouth and eyes, 

 and on a second visit they are seldom disappointed in 

 finding two or three dead crows. 



