20 TRANSACTIONS-PERTHSHIRE SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCE. 
Raven. Year after year a pair will return, if permitted, to the tall 
tree or rocky ledge, and restore the nest which their ancestors have 
handed down to them; but an ever-widening extent of cultivation 
and a more rigid preservation of game, which often means the exter¬ 
mination of all animals not included in the game list—these and 
other causes have of late years tended to drive away the Ravens 
from many a long-accustomed nesting site. Most of the tree habi¬ 
tations in the British Isles are now tenantless, and only the name as 
applied to the site— e.g.^ Ravenswood, Ravensclump, and such like— 
remains to remind us where once a family of Ravens dwelt. Thus 
it is that this fine bird is little known and seldom seen in its wild 
state. Sometimes in the stable-yard of a country inn a poor pinioned 
creature may be met with, hopping along with its peculiar sidelong 
gait to peck at a stranger’s legs, looking askance with its bright 
clever eyes as it makes off with a penny to hide in the grass, or per¬ 
form some trick which it so readily learns; but he who would see the 
bold flight of the Ravens, and hear in their natural haunts 
“ the note of death 
As through mid air they wing their way,” 
must go to our sea cliffs, or to the wild desolate corries of our moun¬ 
tains, where they still hold their own, in spite of much persecution. 
It is sad that they should be banished altogether from the haunts of 
men, for, besides being the finest of our crows, they have special 
claims upon our interest on account of their ancient lineage, the 
veneration and superstitious awe in which they have been held, and 
for the rich legendary lore with which their name has been so long 
associated. From evidence collected from sheep farmers and shep¬ 
herds they appear to do no harm to the flocks, for, on the very rare 
occasions when they molest a sheep or lamb, the animal is too far 
gone to recover. 
Even gamekeepers are not unanimous in their verdict of condem¬ 
nation. There is no doubt that they cannot escape altogether from 
the charge of sucking eggs—a crime to which all their tribe is 
addicted, and for which many of them suffer merciless persecution. 
The carrions and hooded crows are incorrigible offenders, and have 
no friends. The magpies have paid a heavy penalty, and the jays, 
those brilliant ornaments of our woodlands, are extinct in some locali¬ 
ties where once they were not uncommon. The jackdaws are more 
fortunate, owing their escape, perhaps, to their inborn impudence. 
Then, there are the rooks, who do much mischief, every rookery, as 
is well-known, contributing a small contingent of regular and persistent 
egg-suckers; but these we preserve. Far be it from me to expose un¬ 
necessarily the delinquencies of my bird friends or to favour one at 
