440 THE RAVEN. 



In " As you Like it " he makes it as common as the sparrow, 

 for old Adam prays — 



" He that doth the ravens feed — 

 Yea, providently caters for the sparrow — 

 Be comfort to my age !" 



It recently bred on Ravenscraig at the West Lomond, at 

 Crigingaw on the east, and on Ravenscraig Castle, near 

 Kirkcaldy. 



It used to breed on high buildings, cliffs, and church steeples, 

 as jackdaws and pigeons do now. But times are changed, so 

 if you wish to study the ravens' habits you must retire to the 

 wildest, loneliest districts of Scotland, where, like Rob Roy of 

 old, he leads a solitary life. In Norway, where birds are cared 

 for, they still abound, and a score may be seen, like rooks here, 

 and allow you to pass within a few yards — a proof that kindness 

 begets confidence, as ill-usage begets fear ; for with us it is 

 almost impossible to get within range unless in the breeding 

 season, when, taking advantage of paternity, every cruel 

 expedient is taken to exterminate this sagacious bird. No wonder 

 Tennyson says — 



" A raven ever croaks at my side ; 

 Keep watch and ward— keep watch and ward." 



Selby and others say — " It commits great destruction amongst 

 lambs and sickly sheep by picking out their eyes and leaving 

 them to a lingering death, and that young ducks, chickens, and 

 goslings also fall a sacrifice to its voracity. Hence, perpetual 

 war is made against it by the shepherds and husbandmen." If 

 it cannot get offal and carrion, I have no doubt this is true, 

 although I never saw it pick out the eyes of sickly sheep or 

 lambs. But, as Burns says of the mouse, " What then? Poor 

 beastie, it maun live f and Shakespeare says, " Young ravens 

 must be fed." Like all creation, it has a useful mission in its 

 life, and were we to exterminate every creature that preys on 

 weaker ones, I fear this wicked globe would have to be burnt 

 U p — « Nor leave a wreck behind," as the poet has it ; for minute, 

 meddling parasites would devour each other and prey upon its 

 ruins if man had the control. It is pitiful, no doubt, to see a 

 hawk clutch and tear a linnet or a gold-crested wren ; as pitiful 

 to see the linnet or the wren catch a butterfly and tear its 

 wino-s off piecemeal to make it fit to swallow ; or see a spider 

 do the same with a still smaller fly for the same universal 



