258 ADVENTURES AMONG BIRDS 



his belt parted at the same time and the apples were 

 sent rolling all over the smooth lawn. He didn't stay 

 to pick them up ; he made a dash for the gate and cleared 

 it with a flying leap which landed him in the road and 

 never stayed till he was back in his cottage. These and 

 other tales of the past were good to hear, but I was 

 more interested to know the story of the last ravens 

 of Avington and the old clerk was better able to tell 

 it than any person in the village. 



The raven, whether we love it or no, is the most 

 fascinating of feathered beings. Its powerful character 

 impresses the imagination. Certainly it has an intelli- 

 gence almost uncanny in a bird; a savage spirit too, and 

 power; a deep human-like voice; and a very long life. 

 These qualities affect the mind and have been the cause 

 of the raven's strange reputation in former ages — the 

 idea that he was something more than a bird, a mes- 

 senger of doom, an evil spirit, or the spirit of some 

 great dead man revisiting the scenes of his earthlv 

 career. 



Common all over the country down to the early years 

 of the nineteenth century, he has now been pretty well 

 exterminated as an inland bird. On the iron-bound 

 coasts in a few spots where his eggs are comparatively 

 safe, and in a few wild mountainous districts in the 

 interior, he still exists. But it does not seem long since 

 he was lost, for his memory still lives: "raven trees" 

 are common all over the country — trees in which the 

 vanished birds built their big nests and reared their 

 young each year. Tales of "last ravens" are also told 



