The Raven. 
(2° 7 ) 
THE BIRD WORLD. 
covered whence the interruption pro¬ 
ceeded, by the Raven mounting the back 
of a chair in an empty “ fiddler’s gallery,” 
and after repeating his original offence, 
solemnly declaring, “ I’m a joker—bow, 
wow, wow.” 
Almost Extinct in Scotland. 
Once an abundant bird throughout 
Britain, the Raven is now almost 
banished to the mountainous parts of 
Scotland, the North of England and 
Wales, and even where most plentiful 
can scarcely be called common. In a 
few places, particularly round the rock- 
bound coasts of Devon and Cornwall, 
an odd pair or two, and sometimes their 
offspring, may yet be met with, but the 
day has gone by when the Raven was to 
be found nesting upon the spires of 
churches, and similar stations, in the 
neighbourhood of human habitation. 
Its nesting sites are now almost confined 
to the most inaccessible cliffs, and even 
there the eggs or young are too fre¬ 
quently destroyed. The old birds are, 
however, very wary, and generally 
manage to keep out of harm’s way; and 
though their offspring may be taken 
regularly, year after year, they cling 
tenaciously to the old site and have been 
known to return to it for a very long 
period. Should one or other of them 
fall a victim, perhaps to the poisoned 
bait of some gamekeeper, his or her 
place, as we have seen, is quickly filled, 
and even should both of the original 
pair be destroyed, it is remarkable how 
often the identical site may be occupied 
by another pair of the birds. 
Death and the Ravens. 
It is in this way, no doubt, that the 
idea—exemplified by the old saying, 
“ The Raven never dies ”—has got about, 
for though the birds do undoubtedly 
live to a very long age, “ never ” is a very 
long time. Perhaps those birds which 
turn up from time to time to take the 
“The Corby in his lonely Cliff.” 
