162 



DEATH. 



upon their assistance, earns their respect in case of need. I have seen 

 him dart back with his beak the little pebbles which a child had 

 flung at him. The most remarkable pastime which he teaches to his 

 big friend is, to make him hold by one end a stick which he himself 

 draws by the other. This show of a struggle between strength and 

 weakness, this simulated equality, is well adapted to soften the bai- 

 barian, and though at first he gives but little heed to it, he afterwards 

 yields to continued urgency, and ends by throwing himself into the 

 sport with a savage good temper. 



In the presence of this repulsively ferocious figure, armed with 

 invincible talons and a beak tipped with iron, which would kill at 

 the first blow, tlie crow has not the least fear. With the security of 

 a superior mind, before this heavy mass he goes, he comes, he wheels 



about, he snatches its prey before its eyes; the other gi'owls, but too 

 late; his tutor, far more nimble, with his black eye, metallic and 



