There is a legend that if the ravens ever leave the London Tower then it will crumble. The ravens are black and weigh about 3 pounds. Their tails are wedge-shaped.

There are men who are called the Raven Masters. The Raven Master is a man who loves the birds with all his heart. He take cares of the black birds and feeds them.

The Ravens are very important to the people of England and the Tower of London. The birds have been around the Tower since King Charles II. When night fell King Charles was looking at all of the stars and while he was looking through a telescope he noticed bird droppings. He ordered all the Ravens to be put to death. Many years later, when the Tower closed for repairs, the English people were reminded of the Raven myth.

Each raven has a colored band around his or her leg. This is like the ravens’ name tag. Each color shows, which raven it, is. Since the time of the Second World War there have always been six ravens at the London Tower. They live in nesting boxes on the Tower Grounds near the Wakefield Tower.

The ravens can be seen at four places. The Tower Green is site of the executioner’s block. If this has always been a spot of the ravens then they would have witnessed the executions of Anne Boleyn, Sir Walter Raleigh and Sir Thomas More along with others. They can also be seen at the Tower steps. This spot shows that the ravens would have been around when the White Tower was in construction. The Roman Wall is another favorite spot of the ravens. The Roman Wall is the foundation of the old Roman Wall. Cold Harbor is the last of the ravens’ favorite places. It is the site of an early entrance to the Tower however; the entrance no longer exists. Many people believe the raven myth; many do not. What do you believe?

LEG-RING COLOR	NAME	SEX	YEAR	WHERE FROM
yellow	Larry	female	1973	Isle of Anglesey
white	Hardey	male	1981	Dorset
dark blue	Cedric	male	1987	Lincolnshire
light blue	Gwylum	male	1988	Welsh Mountain Zoo
dark green	Munin 11	female	1995	North Uist (Scotland)
red	Hugine 11	female	1995	North Uist (Scotland)
orange	Odin	male	1995	Hampshire
light green	Thor	male	1995	Hampshire

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