RAVENS. 197 



however, they were soon discovered by their unnatural 

 parents, who, for a long time, used to come at early dawn 

 and pounce upon them with fierce cries. This antipathy 

 to their young (which by several authors has been con- 

 sidered as peculiar to Ravens), has been remarked by 

 many, who have not only known them to show great 

 indifference to any young ones accidentally thrown out 

 of the nest, but have further ascertained that the parents 

 actually devour them. 



It would appear from some passages in the Sacred 

 Scriptures, that the desertion of their young had not 

 escaped the observation of the inspired writers. It was 

 certainly a current belief, in the olden times, that when 

 the Raven saw its young ones newly hatched, and covered 

 with down, it conceived such an aversion, that it forsook 

 them, and did not return to the nest, till a darker plum- 

 age had shown itself. And to this belief commentators 

 suppose the Psalmist alludes, when he says, He giveth to 

 the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry. 

 (Psalm cxlvii. 9.) And again, in Job, Who provideth 

 for the raven his food ? When his young ones cry unto 

 God, they wander for lack of meat. (Job xxxviii. 41.) 



But we do not believe this want of feeling to be 

 peculiar to Ravens ; on the contrary, in an aviary where 

 several Canaries build annually, instances repeatedly 

 occur of young birds falling out of the nest, when, if 

 they are of very tender age, the old ones seem to show 

 no uneasiness whatever ; hopping or flying over them 

 with the greatest unconcern, though the poor naked 

 birds may be struggling for life. 



We have yet, indeed, much to learn respecting the 

 real extent and quality of the affection of animals for 

 their young ; for in the case of Canaries we have known,s 

 if wet or cold weather chanced to continue for a day or 

 two, not only nests containing eggs, but others, with 

 nearly full-fledged nestlings, requiring all a mother's 

 care, to be at once abandoned, and left to perish by cold 

 or hunger. 



