﻿BIRDS. 
  

  

  17 
  

  

  Corvus 
  corax, 
  L. 
  Raven. 
  

  

  Were 
  the 
  Eaven 
  afforded 
  protection 
  it 
  would 
  soon 
  become 
  a 
  fairly 
  

   common 
  bird, 
  but 
  except 
  in 
  a 
  few 
  places, 
  it 
  is 
  killed 
  off 
  on 
  every 
  

   possible 
  occasion. 
  This 
  is 
  generally 
  done 
  as 
  much 
  in 
  the 
  sheep- 
  

   farming 
  as 
  in 
  the 
  game-keeping 
  interest, 
  though 
  we 
  have 
  often 
  

   been 
  told 
  that 
  as 
  regards 
  its 
  destructive 
  propensities 
  to 
  both 
  classes 
  

   the 
  Eaven 
  is 
  nowhere 
  in 
  comparison 
  to 
  the 
  Hooded 
  Crow. 
  How- 
  

   ever, 
  as 
  it 
  now 
  has 
  a 
  bad 
  name, 
  the 
  poor 
  bird 
  has 
  to 
  pay 
  for 
  

   it, 
  and 
  although 
  many 
  old 
  nesting 
  sites 
  are 
  pointed 
  out 
  to 
  us 
  

   on 
  our 
  walks 
  through 
  the 
  hills, 
  our 
  ears 
  are 
  rarely 
  gladdened 
  

   by 
  the 
  croakings 
  of 
  the 
  birds 
  themselves 
  around 
  these 
  places 
  

   during 
  the 
  nesting 
  season, 
  though 
  now 
  and 
  then 
  at 
  other 
  times 
  

   of 
  the 
  year, 
  one 
  may 
  be 
  heard 
  high 
  in 
  air 
  barking 
  away, 
  and 
  

   turning 
  on 
  its 
  back 
  as 
  it 
  does 
  so, 
  in 
  a 
  way 
  unknown 
  to 
  any 
  other 
  

   bird 
  than 
  itself. 
  Eavens 
  breed 
  at 
  Invergarry, 
  amongst 
  other 
  places, 
  

   and 
  are 
  not 
  destroyed 
  systematically 
  there 
  — 
  indeed, 
  are 
  preserved, 
  

   and 
  as 
  many 
  as 
  sixteen 
  have 
  been 
  seen 
  together. 
  A 
  pair 
  built 
  

   near 
  that 
  place 
  in 
  March 
  1888, 
  and 
  when 
  visited, 
  the 
  nest 
  con- 
  

   tained 
  five 
  eggs 
  ; 
  in 
  April, 
  finding 
  their 
  nest 
  had 
  been 
  visited, 
  the 
  

   old 
  birds 
  smashed 
  the 
  eggs 
  and 
  tore 
  up 
  the 
  nest. 
  They 
  then 
  

   appear 
  to 
  have 
  built 
  three 
  more 
  nests 
  in 
  three 
  weeks, 
  in 
  one 
  of 
  

   which 
  they 
  deposited 
  four 
  eggs 
  (Murdoch 
  Matheson). 
  

  

  St. 
  John 
  found 
  the 
  Eaven 
  breeding 
  in 
  the 
  old 
  eagle's 
  nest 
  on 
  

   the 
  Cromarty 
  rocks, 
  and 
  saw 
  the 
  young 
  there 
  ; 
  but 
  he 
  says 
  that 
  

   it 
  ' 
  is 
  now 
  a 
  rare 
  bird 
  in 
  this 
  immediate 
  district 
  1 
  (Sport 
  in 
  

   Morai/, 
  p. 
  46). 
  

  

  In 
  May, 
  for 
  several 
  years 
  previous 
  to 
  1892, 
  we 
  have 
  seen 
  many 
  

   Eavens 
  on 
  a 
  hill 
  near 
  Kinbrace, 
  Sutherland, 
  probably 
  migrants 
  

   from 
  the 
  north, 
  as 
  now 
  they 
  are 
  rare 
  birds 
  there 
  in 
  the 
  breeding 
  

   season. 
  

  

  In 
  1892 
  Eavens 
  tried 
  to 
  build 
  in 
  the 
  rocks 
  of 
  the 
  Blackwater, 
  

   the 
  main 
  branch 
  of 
  the 
  Brora 
  river, 
  but 
  the 
  birds 
  were 
  killed 
  and 
  

   the 
  eggs 
  taken 
  by 
  the 
  keeper 
  ; 
  there 
  is, 
  however, 
  generally 
  a 
  nest 
  

   in 
  the 
  high 
  rock 
  over 
  Loch 
  Brora, 
  almost 
  the 
  only 
  one 
  now 
  known 
  

   to 
  us 
  in 
  the 
  north-east 
  of 
  our 
  present 
  area. 
  

  

  South 
  of 
  the 
  Great 
  Glen 
  the 
  Eaven 
  is 
  resident, 
  or 
  very 
  partially 
  

   vagrant. 
  Edward 
  says 
  a 
  few 
  frequented 
  the 
  coast 
  east 
  of 
  Banff, 
  

   where 
  they 
  bred 
  ; 
  and 
  the 
  Eev. 
  J. 
  Smith 
  spoke 
  of 
  it 
  as 
  nesting 
  

   VOL. 
  XL 
  B 
  

  

  