THE RAVEN i77 



his whole weight, as he raised himself and drove in a fresh 

 nail higher up. "The old birds, meanwhile, kept flying 

 closely round, croaking and barking fiercely, with every 

 feather on neck and head erect in anger." 



It was an ingenious way of climbing, but it was a 

 very risky one. " In spite of the exertion, my hands and 

 body were numbed with the cold. As I climbed higher, 

 the work grew more dangerous, for the wind told more. 

 A slip would not only have thrown me to the ground, but 

 have torn me to pieces with the nails which thickly 

 studded the trunk below." 



It took the bold young climber no less than two and 

 a half hours to make the ascent, but the nest was reached 

 at last. To his delight there were four eggs in it. (The 

 Raven is one of the earliest birds to lay.) 



" The nest was a huge structure, nearly as big as a 

 heron's, but built of larger sticks and better put together. 

 The eggs lay in a deep and comfortable hollow, lined with 

 fibres, grass, dry bracken, a few feathers, some rabbit's fur, 

 and, strangest of all, a large piece of a woman's dress — 

 probably a gipsy's, for in those days gipsy encamj)ments 

 were common thereabouts." 



The fast-falling winter twilight soon deepened into 

 night, and the descent which would have been compara- 

 tively easy in a good light, had to be made slowly and 

 with great care. "We did not reach Blandford till nine 

 o'clock p.m., worn out with cold, hunger, and fatigue, but 

 proud in the possession of the first Raven's eggs I had ever 

 seen." 



12 



