CHAPTER XXXVIIL 



WINGED VERMIN : Ravens. Crows. Jackdaws. Magpies 

 and Jays. Hawks and Owls. 



Ravens. 



NOTWITHSTANDING the long list of what is generally 

 termed " ground vermin," there is a second quite as 

 lengthy, comprehending the various birds which, in contra- 

 distinction, we call " winged vermin." The first of these 

 to be noticed is the raven, a well-known bird on rough 

 moorlands, becoming more numerous as the country 

 becomes wilder and less frequented, though the presence 

 of sheep and cattle is to its liking. Accordingly, the 

 bird is growing scarcer every year, as the continued 

 increase of cultivation makes inroads on its natural domain. 

 On the higher portions of all our moorlands, in the 

 mountains of Wales and Ireland, and throughout the 

 greater portion of the Highlands of Scotland, where the 

 weather mostly inclines towards roughness, and is ofttimes 

 wild in the extreme, the raven still finds localities suitable 

 to its taste, and spots where it can with comfort eke out 

 the days of its varied existence, a menace to all birds 

 smaller than itself, and ready to defy the supremacy even 

 of the eagle, should one venture to intrude upon its fast- 

 nesses. The raven is decidedly a large bird, measuring 

 about 2ft. in total length, by some 4in. to 4|in., while the 



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