Still inside the Tower of London: These small houses are the Raven's lodgings. There is a legend that if the ravens ever leave the Tower of London, the White Tower, the monarchy, and the entire kingdom would fall. There have been at least six ravens in residence at the tower for centuries. The legend of these Ravens in the Tower of London is so important to the people of England that ten ravens (6 on duty and 4 young spares) are actually employed by the Tower of London at the expense of the British government, in return for their service they are treated very well and at least six ravens are provided with Raven's Lodgings at the Tower of London. A Yeoman Warder, or Beefeater, has the specific role of Ravenmaster at the Tower and takes care of their feeding and well being. Ravens can be quite vicious birds and they only respond to the Ravenmaster. The Ravenmaster builds this relationship with the ravens as he takes the fledglings into his home and hand rears them over a period of about six weeks. Ravens live, up to an average, of 25 years. To prevent the birds from flying away, one of their wings is clipped, by the Ravenmaster. This does not hurt or harm the raven in any way. Clipping their wing unbalances their flight ensuring that they don't stray too far from the Tower. Ravens are members of the crow family, Corvus, and eat carrion, in the wild and live mainly on dead flesh, in the Tower. The Raven's lodgings are located next to the Wakefield Tower. Currently, there are 10 ravens in residence. Six on duty: Gwylum (male,18 years old), Thor (male,15), Hugin (female,11), Munin (female,11), Branwen (female,3) and Bran (male,3). The four spares are: Gundulf (male, 1), Baldrick (male,1), Fleur (female,4) and Colin (male,2). The oldest raven, ever to serve at the Tower of London, was called Jim Crow, who died at the age of 44. Some information from Wikipedia Thanks for stopping by, taking a peak and for all your previous comments and favs. Dana