14-2 



C O R V U S. 



illicit expect them to be possessed of this kind of 

 sagacity. 



Great acutencss of senses, and what, as compared 

 with birds which are made fur one place only, we 

 may consider as remarkable habits of attention and 

 observation, are necessary for this purpose ; and 

 accordingly, we find that these are possessed to an 

 extent of which we have very few instances in birds, 

 and of which it is not very easy for us sometimes to 

 discover the nse. There is certainly a perception of 

 brilliancy of colour in these birds, and they make an 

 election between substance and substance upon this 

 principle alone, for which it is difficult to account 

 upon any notion that we have of the supplying of 

 their animal wants. Thus, for instance, if there are 

 two little pieces of potter's ware, of the same size, 

 shape, and consistency, and if the one side of them, 

 as is often the case in coarse brown ware, be white 

 and glazed, and the other not, if they are left in a 

 magpie's way, one with the glazed side upward, and 

 the other with the unglazed, the chance is, that the 

 magpie will carry off the glazed and shining one, but 

 certainly no: the other; so also, if a shilling and a 

 halfpenny are left in the way of the same bird, the 

 shilling will likely be carried off, and the halfpenny left. 

 If we were to argue this last election upon the principle 

 of experience, or cause and effect, as those principles 

 regulate our conduct, we should be apt to conclude 

 that the magpie is not only fond of money, but a 

 judge of the value of it. This cannot, however, be 

 the case, inasmuch as, in times of her greatest famine, 

 the magpie never thinks of fetching from her store of 

 cash, or other valuables, wherewithal to purchase 

 food, but beats the bushes with the same assiduity as 

 if her coffers were empty. 



The fact is, that these birds have a very strong habit 

 of what we must call not merely observation, but 

 curiosity in observation a means, though it is 

 impossible for us to say in what it consists of, judging 

 of the appearance of things, and selecting one in 

 preference to another on account of appearance only, 

 and without any reference to intermediate usefulness 

 in the supplying of any present want. Wild or tame, 

 we find that animals of this family are always prying 

 about, and that they not only perceive what is 

 immediately beside them, but have no inconsiderable 

 degree of knowledge of what is going on in the world 

 around them ; and though this vigilance renders 

 them very wary of real danger, and very expert in 

 the avoiding of it, it gives them a degree of self- 

 possession much greater than that of most birds, and 

 this seems to be one of the principal grounds upon 

 which the whole race are so much more easily tamed, 

 than from their cautious and wary dispositions we 

 might be led to expect. In the case of most birds we 

 require arts of taming, and in many the birds cannot 

 be kept without the confinement of cages ; but in the 

 case of almost any species of this genus, we have 

 only to feed them well, and they not only feel at 

 home, but tender us their services in doing what they 

 can to drive off other intruders. 



Another remarkable quality of this, and some of 

 the allied genera, is the great readiness with which 

 they can be made to articulate, that is, to imitate 

 the sounds of the human voice. This is so well 

 known, that many people keep the birds in con- 

 sequence of the habit they have acquired of repeating 

 words ; and a foolish piece of ignorance is sometimes 

 productive of a good deal of crueltv in this particular 



case. It is a vulgar belief, that they speak more 

 plainly when their tongues are split, and much pain 

 and annoyance is often occasioned to them by the 

 performing of this operation. Now, there cannot be 

 a piece of more gratuitous cruelty ; for every one 

 who knows anything about the structure of birds is 

 perfecily aware that their tongues have nothing to do 

 in the production or the modulation of those sounds 

 which they utter, whether natural or acquired. The 

 organ of voice in birds is at the bronchial end of the 

 windpipe, and whatever of articulation they give 

 forth is generated there, though the wind-pipe and 

 mouth may act as a sort of trumpet in increasing 

 the volume of sound, or otherwise changing the pitch 

 of it. 



Birds of this genus acquire a very considerable de- 

 gree of interest, when we come to reflect on the part 

 of their character now stated ; and also when we lake 

 their usefulness into the account. Some of them at 

 some seasons commit depredations upon the property 

 of man, arid destroy numbers of the eggs and young 

 of bird?, and aiso of the young of some matumalia, 

 upon which man sets a value; but these arc nothing 

 to the good which they do in return ; and it is doubt- 

 ful wliethtM 1 , without the labours of birds of this genus, 

 any country could lie profitably cultivated, not only 

 in so far as concerns plants which are reared for the 

 sake of their seeds or grains, but also as concerns the 

 meadows which are to be grazed. In some districts 

 of Britain it has been felt by experience that the ex- 

 termination of rooks is any thing but a prudent mea- 

 sure ; and, although in many districts a price is set 

 upon the head of the raven, it is questionable whether 

 there be much more wisdom in that. The raven is, 

 in a state of nature, one of the most retiring of the 

 genus, because his habits arc different from those of 

 many of the rest ; and, therefore, as is the case with 

 the more powerful and predatory creatures of all 

 classes, the raven retires naturally from those places 

 where he is not immediately wanted. In the rich 

 agricultural districts, and the wholesome and abun- 

 dant sheep-walks, where all the stock is in good condi- 

 tion and free from disease, the raven levies no contri- 

 bution, except upon such members of wild nature as 

 do not fully participate in the benefit of man's culti- 

 vation, and, indeed, he seldom makes his appearance 

 at all. It is generally said, in places where ravens 

 are abundant, and where their manners should be 

 best known, that among domestic animals, even in 

 their young and helpless state, the raven scents no- 

 thing but disease. Now, it is well-known that in 

 countries which are poor, badly cultivated, and sub- 

 ject to great variations of winter weather and winter 

 feeding for domestic animals, those animals are not 

 only liable to become diseased in the spring mom Is, 

 but many of their diseases very speedily infect the 

 rest, till mortality becomes very general. These dis- 

 eases, when they come to the infectious stage, are 

 generally diseases of the alimentary canal, and before 

 they come to this stage, the muscular strength is gene- 

 rally so far subdued that if they are out of doors at 

 pasture, the diseased ones are not able to accompany 

 the healthy, or even to rise up when they have lain 

 down. It is in this stage that both sheep and cattle 

 in exposed situations become ravens' food ; and, in- 

 deed, in which they attract the notice of these birds ; 

 and when they attack calves or lambs, it will gene- 

 rally be found to be those that have been dropped by 

 weakly mothers which are incapable of rearing them. 



