CARRION CROW 
153 
England and Wales, and in the south of Scotland. 
Its plumage is entirely black. Further north, 
and in Ireland, it gives place almost entirely to 
the Grey, or Hooded Crow, a closely related 
species which divides up the whole of Europe and 
a large part of Western Asia with it in a most 
curious manner, rarely invading the territory of the 
other species, though where the boundaries of the 
two meet they will readily interbreed. The 
Carrion Crow is a sort of meaner Raven, and is 
also a bird of great interest on account of his 
intelligence and calculating savagery of character. 
He will eat, broadly speaking, anything. If he 
confined himself to the varied though gamey diet 
indicated by his English name, no one would have 
much of a quarrel with him ; but he has also a 
great taste for all kinds of eggs and chicks, and is 
a great enemy of the flock-master, being always 
ready to make short work of a feeble or wounded 
lamb, or even sheep, being especially fond of 
picking out his victim's eyes. His watchfulness 
and intelligence are extreme, and he has shown his 
adaptability in an unusual way by settling in con- 
siderable numbers in the London suburbs, where 
men with guns are scarce, and there is an abundant 
and varied table on every rubbish-tip, as well as a 
liberal supply of bread-crusts and young Sparrows 
in more central and fashionable quarters, such as 
