THE RAVEN-TREE. 227 



of male birds, beautiful in their pure black and 

 white plumage, which were recklessly floating over 

 a wide expanse of sea, added an indescribable 

 interest to this otherwise desert scene. An old 

 man, who had the care of the island, and seemed 

 to derive much pleasure from the charge, accom- 

 panied us all over his premises, pointing out to us 

 the ducks as they sat around us, apparently heed- 

 less of our near approach, and on quite familiar 

 terms with our companion, who would even stroke 

 them on the back, and was very jealous lest we 

 should fire our guns, and thus scare his pets." 



A beautiful instance of the same instinct of 

 incubation, and of its power in rendering the 

 parent bird apparently insensible to the emotion 

 of fear, is recorded in the pages, old, but ever 

 fresh, of Gilbert White of Selborne. In the 

 centre of a grove there stood an oak which, though 

 shapely and tall on the whole, bulged out into a 

 large excrescence about the middle of the stem : 

 in this a pair of ravens had fixed their residence 

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

 guished by the title of the Eaven-tree. Many 

 were the attempts of the neighbouring youth to 

 get at this eyrie: the difficulty whetted their 



