1 1 4 PEA THERED FRIENDS. 



After a little while " Grippa, " as her custom was on 

 such occasions, hopped down to ascertain that her 

 treasure was safe, and when she found it gone anything 

 more droll than her look of astonishment I never wit- 

 nessed. She could not make it out at all, and evidently 

 thought she had mistaken the place, for she went and 

 looked all round her den, of course without success, and 

 at last came back to the place where she had left her 

 bone, looked about with a very odd expression, gave 

 up the search, hopping on to her perch, and then began 

 to cough as if she had not many hours to live. 



Finally I set a trap for the rat and caught the old 

 vagabond, when I consigned him to a watery grave 

 and then gave his carcass to " Grippa", who was 

 extremely partial to mice ; but she could not make any 

 impression on the tough hide of the rat and hid it 

 away, presumably to wait until decomposition had 

 made it softer. Day by day she tried it, but without 

 effect, and at last I had to have it removed and buried, 

 for there is nothing more offensive than a dead rat, 

 except it be a Canary that has been fed on stale hard- 

 boiled egg and died in consequence the smell in that 

 case breaks the record for unpleasant odours, as I have 

 often found to my disgust when making post-mortems 

 for correspondents. 



Poor old " Grippa 1" I tried to get a mate for her, 

 for a pair of tame Ravens will breed freely in captivity, 

 I have read, but I was not successful, and at last I 



