2 6 Bird-keep ing. 



appetite, and to eat small mammalia, birds' eggs, 

 reptiles, insects, and fish, and occasionally grain. 



The Raven is found in both hemispheres and in all 

 climates, braving equally the severity of an arctic 

 winter and the heat of the tropics. In most countries 

 he is considered either a sacred bird or a bird of ill 

 omen. He is a grim ungainly bird, and his habit of 

 turning his head to look over his shoulder has made 

 some people suppose that he was pursued by an evil 

 conscience, and his croak is supposed to bode mis- 

 fortune to those who hear it. Yet tame Ravens have 

 been petted even by sailors, the most superstitious of 

 men ; and Captain M'Clure, in his narrative of the 

 discovery of the North- West Passage, tells of a Raven 

 which haunted the " Investigator," unmolested by any 

 of the men, between whom and the bird a mutual 

 confidence had been established ; so that when it left 

 the ship its departure was mourned and its society 

 missed by all. The dog would sometimes run at the 

 Raven, but it would quietly watch his movements, and 

 hop on his head, and search for food at the dirt-heap, 

 keeping its eye always upon the dog, and croaking 

 occasionally as if in mockery of him. Two other 

 Ravens visited the ship at another time, when the cold 

 was very severe, and lived upon any scraps they could 

 secure after meal-times. The dog considered these 

 his perquisites, and the Ravens would throw them- 

 selves intentionally in his way just as the mess-tins 



