DICKENS 'S RAVENS. 479 



his best, for his former master sent his duty with him, and said, ' if 

 I wished the bird to come out very strong, to be so good as show 

 him a drunken man;' which I never did, having (unfortunately) 

 none but sober people at hand. But I could hardly have respected 

 him more, whatever the stimulating influence of this sight might 

 have been. He had not the least respect for me, I am sorry to say, 

 in return, or for anybody but the cook, to whom he was attached, 

 but, I fear, only as a policeman might have been. Once 1 met him 

 unexpectedly, about half a mile off, walking down the middle of the 

 public street, attended by a pretty large crowd, and spontaneously 

 exhibiting the whole of his accomplishments. His gravity under this 

 trying ordeal I never can forget, nor the extraordinary gallantry with 

 which, refusing to be brought home, he defended himself behind a 

 pump until overpowered by numbers. It may have been that he 

 was too bright a genius to live long, or it may have been that he 

 took something pernicious into his bill, and thence into his maw 

 which is not improbable, seeing he new-pointed the greater part of 

 the garden wall by digging out the mortar, broke countless squares of 

 glass by scraping away the putty all round the frames, and tore up 

 and swallowed in splinters the greater part of a wooden staircase of 

 six steps as well as the landing but after some three years he was 

 taken ill, and died before the kitchen fire. He kept his eye to the 

 last upon the meat as it roasted, and suddenly turned over on his 

 back with the sepulchral cry of ' Cuckoo ! ' " 



Crows are universally diffused over the globe. The Raven 

 (Corvus corax] and the Carrion Crow (Corvus corone) are sedentary 

 birds, and never voluntarily abandon the place they have elected for 

 their home. The Rook ( Corvus frugilegus, Fig. 196) and the Jack- 

 daw (Corvus moneduld) are migratory in their habits, only visiting 

 the countries of southern Europe on the approach of winter. The 

 Royston or Hooded Crow (Corv >us comix) inhabits the lofty mountain 

 regions of Europe, descending into the plains during winter. It is 

 also solitary in its habits. The Senegal Crow (Corvus senegalensis) 

 is exclusively confined to Africa. The Great-billed Crow (Corvus 

 crassirostris) is a native of Abyssinia, the handsome Philippine Crow 

 (Corvus sinensis) of the group of islands after which it is named, and 

 finally the Fish Crow (Corvus ossifragus), which is about the size of 

 a Jackdaw, is confined to America. 



The Pies (Pica) are distinguished from the Crows by their shorter 

 wings, longer tail, and by their variegated plumage ; but for this 

 difference, they greatly resemble the birds just described. Like 

 the Crows, they are omnivorous, but they generally avoid de?d prey; 



