The Raven. 267 



Imitate the human voice, in articulating words. At the 

 seat of the Marquis of Aylesbury, in Wiltshire, a tame 

 Eaven, that had been taught to speak, used to ramble 

 about in the park, where he was commonly attended 

 and beset with crows, rooks, and others of his inquisitive 

 tribe. When a considerable number of these were col- 

 lected round him, he would lift up his head, and with 

 a hoarse and hollow voice shout out Holloa ! This would 

 instantly put to flight and disperse his sable brethren ; 

 while the Eaven seemed to enjoy the fright he had 

 occasioned. When domesticated, the Eaven is of great 

 service, both as a scavenger and in keeping watch, in 

 the last of which he is more alert and vigilant than 

 almost any other animal. The Eaven was the ensign of the 

 invading Danes, and the prejudice thereby engendered 

 against the bird is not yet quite extinct. Of its per- 

 severance in the act of incubation, Mr. White relates 

 the following singular anecdote : 



" In the centre of a grove near Selborne, there stood 

 an oak, which, though on the whole shapely and tall, 

 bulged out into a large excrescence near the middle of 

 the stem. On this tree a pair of Eavens had fixed their 

 residence for such a series of years, that the oak was dis- 

 tinguished by the title of * The Eaven-tree.' Many 

 were the attempts of the neighbouring youths to get at 

 this nest : the difficulty whetted their inclinations, and 

 each was ambitious of surmounting the arduous task ; but 

 when they arrived at the swelling, it jutted out so in 

 their way, and was so far beyond their grasp, that the 

 boldest lads were deterred and acknowledged the under- 

 taking to be too hazardous. Thus the Eavens continued 

 to build, nest upon nest, in perfect security, till the fatal 

 day on which the wood was to be levelled. This was in the 

 month of February, when those birds usually sit. The 

 saw was applied to the trunk, the wedges were inserted 

 into the opening, the wood echoed to the heavy blows of 

 the mallet, the tree nodded to its fall ; but still the dam 

 persisted in sitting. At last, when it gave way, the bird 

 was flung from her nest ; and though her parental affec- 

 tion deserved a better fate, was whipped down by the 

 twigs, which brought her dead to the ground !" 



