419 
1921.] Birds of Alderney. 
the number of birds noticed by him in this short period is 
remarkable, even allowing for the fact that the autumn 
migration was in full swing ; but a week is far too short a 
period on which to form conclusions, and the habit of many 
species, as noted above, of passing across the Race from the 
French coast to the island and vice versa at will,^appears to 
have led him into some wrong assumptions with regard 
to the relative abundance of different species. 
Corvus corax. The Raven. 
The bird is a resident, and a pair may usually be met with 
along the shore or cliffs, attention being probably first 
attracted to them by their well-known harsh cry. 
At least one pair breed here, and in February 1914 I 
visited a nest which contained six eggs. It was a pleasure 
to find that the same nest was still being occupied in 1920. 
The bird also breeds in Guernsey where, in 1909, I visited 
a nest. It contained five nearly fledged young ones, and I 
was induced to take one as a pet. It was an interesting and 
amusing bird, and no trouble so long as it had sufficient food ; 
but eventually its appetite grew to such an extent and it 
did so much damage in the garden, by biting off the young 
shoots and buds, that I gave it to the Brighton Zoological 
Gardens, where, however, it did not live long. 
Mr. Cecil Smith, writing in 1879, was of opinion that the 
bird did not breed on any of the islands. He says: “The 
Raven can now only be looked upon as an occasional straggler. 
I do not think it breeds at present in any of the islands, as I 
have not seen it anywhere about in the breeding season since 
1866, when I saw a pair near the cliffs on the south end of the 
island (Guernsey) in June ; but as the Raven is a very early 
breeder, these may only have been wanderers.” Mr. Eagle 
Clarke saw three Ravens in Sark on the 29th of September, 
1898, which he concluded, and no doubt rightly, were 
residents. It would therefore appear that the Raven is not 
only holding its own, but actually increasing in numbers, at 
any rate locally. 
