28 Bird-keeping. 



he had acquired chattering, stringing together all the 

 words and sentences it knew, coughing, sneezing, 

 barking, and spluttering, till the dialogue became the 

 most extraordinary combination of sounds that could 

 be imagined. The wild bird appeared to be en- 

 deavouring to persuade its companion to join him, 

 while the captive poured forth all its accomplishments 

 in answer to his blandishments. Next morning the 

 same scene occurred, but apparently the wild Raven 

 was convinced of the uselessness of his attempts, for 

 it was never witnessed again. 



The manner in which the Raven utters the sentences 

 he has learned is often so completely as if he under- 

 stood what he was saying, and he so often uses the right 

 phrase to accomplish his purpose, that it would seem 

 that he must attach some meaning to it, or at least that 

 he has observed the effect of certain words, and repeats 

 them when he wishes to attain the same object. I have 

 read of a Raven attached to an inn, who would always 

 steal up to any strange dog that came on the premises, 

 and suddenly shout in his ear " Halloa ! whose dog are 

 you ? " and before the dog could recover from his sur- 

 prise, would call out " Hie ! ho ! go home ! " and send 

 him flying up the street at a frantic rate. The same 

 bird would start off a cart-horse by shouting " Gee ! 

 whoa ! " exactly like the carter. Such stories are so 

 common that it would be useless to repeat them here. 



Young Ravens are easily tamed if taken from the 



