THE RA VEN AND THE DOG. 341 



she would never stir from the gate, but sit there the whole day 

 in sight of her favourite. At last orders were given that she 

 should be no longer molested, but suffered to accompany the 

 dog as she liked ; being thus left to herself, she ran about the 

 yard with him all the night ; and whenever the dog went out 

 of the yard, and ran into the village, the Goose as constantly 

 accompanied him, contriving to keep up with the assistance of 

 her wings ; and thus, running and flying, would follow him 

 to any distance. This extraordinary affection of the Goose 

 towards the dog, which continued till his death, two years 

 after it was first observed, is supposed to have originated from 

 his having once accidentally saved her from a fox. While the 

 dog was ill, the mourning bird never quitted him day or night, 

 not even to feed; and it was apprehended she would have 

 been starved to death, had not a pan of corn been placed every 

 day close to the kennel. At this time she generally sat close 

 by him, and would not suffer any one to approach except the 

 person who brought the dog's or her own food. The end of 

 the poor bird was very tragical ; for when the dog died, she 

 still kept possession of the kennel ; and a new house-dog 

 having been introduced, which in size and colour resembled 

 that lately lost, the poor Goose was unhappily deceived, and 

 going as usual within his reach, the new dog seized her by the 

 throat, and killed her on the spot. 



We knew a similar instance of a strong attachment formed 

 between a Eaven and a large otter-dog. The Raven had been 

 taken when young, and reared in a stable-yard, where the dog 

 was kept chained up. A friendship soon commenced, which, 

 increasing from little to more, in time ripened into a most 

 extraordinary degree of intimacy. At first the bird was satis- 

 fied with hopping about in the vicinity of the kennel, and 

 occasionally pecking a hasty morsel from the dog's feeding- 

 pan, when the latter had finished his meal ; finding, however, 

 no* interruption on the part of his friend, the Raven soon 

 became a constant attendant at meal times, and taking up his 

 position on the edge of the dish, acted the part of a regular 

 guest and partaker of the dog's dinner, which consisted usually 

 of meal and milk, with occasional scraps of offal meat, a piece 



