RAVENS. i S3 



provincial judge, that these destructive birds may be exter- 

 minated. Besides its human enemies, it has, in those islands, 

 other very formidable ones of its own order, in the shape of 

 certain sea-birds, called the Oyster-catcher, or Sea-pie, and the 

 Puffins, or Sea-parrots. 



The Puffin acts rather in self-defence, for the Eaven is the 

 aggressor, attacking the Puffins for the purpose of eating their 

 eggs, of which the Ravens are remarkably fond : in this case 

 a desperate fight ensues ; for the Raven usually takes an 

 opportunity of committing the theft when the Puffins are at 

 sea in search of food, and he can without opposition enter the 

 holes or burrows in which the Puffins breed ; but should the 

 latter catch the robber in the hole on returning, it darts its 

 claws into its breast, seizes him by the neck with its strong 

 razor-formed bill, and as soon as they issue from the hole, 

 struggling with each other, the Raven endeavours to ascend 

 to the land, while the Puffin, on the contrary, does its best to 

 descend to the water ; and if it succeeds, it becomes for the 

 most part the conqueror, for when the Raven's feathers get 

 soaked, he can no longer defend himself, and perishes. 



Young Ravens, it is well known, may be easily tamed ; but 

 they are so cunning and mischievous, that it is necessary for 

 those who harbour them to keep a constant watch on their 

 motions, for they will catch up anything that is glittering, and 

 carry it off to some secret hiding-place. Stories without end 

 might be told of their thieving propensities. Let one suffice : 

 a gentleman's butler having missed a great many silver spoons 

 and other articles, without a suspicion as to who might be the 

 thief, at last observed a tame Raven with one in his mouth, 

 and watching him to his hiding-place, discovered more than a 

 dozen. But pilferers as they are, and inclined to mischief, 

 they have redeeming good qualities, which often make them 

 deservedly great favourites, and they may be sometimes trained 

 for useful purposes. 



Thus the landlord of an inn, in Cambridgeshire, was in pos- 

 session of a Raven which frequently went hunting with a dog 

 that had been bred up with him. On their arrival at a cover, 

 the dog entered, and drove the hares and rabbits from the 



