110 A HISTORY OF 



probabiy be the effect of the rigorous climates of the north. It is most 

 likely that this change is wrought upon him as upon most other ani- 

 mals in that part of the world where their robes, particularly in win 

 ler, assume the colour of the country where they inhabit. As in old 

 age, when the natural heat decays, the hair grows grey, and at last 

 white ; so among these animals, the cold of the climate may produce 

 a similar languishment of colour, and may shut up those pores that 

 conveyed the tincturing fluids to the extremes! parts of the body. 



However this may be, white ravens are often shown among us, 

 which I have heard some say, are rendered thus by art ; and this we 

 could readily suppose if they were as easily changed in their colour 

 as they are altered in their habits and dispositions. A raven may be 

 reclaimed to almost every purpose to which birds can be converted. 

 He may be trained up for fowling like a hawk ; he may be taught to 

 fetch and carry like a spaniel ; he may be taught to speak like a par- 

 rot ; but the most extraordinary of all is, that he can be taught to 

 sing like a man. I have heard a raven sing the Black Joke with 

 great distinctness, truth, and humour. 



Indeed, when the raven is taken as a domestic, he has many quali- 

 ties that render him extremely amusing. Busy, inquisitive, and im- 

 pudent, he goes every where, affronts and drives off the dogs, plays 

 his pranks on the poultry, and is particularly assiduous in cultivating 

 the good will of the cook-maid, who seems to be the favourite of the 

 family. But then, with the amusing qualities of a favourite, he often 

 also has the vices and defects. He is a glutton by nature, and a 

 thief by habit. He does not confine himself to petty depredations on 

 the pantry or the larder; he soars at more magnificent plunder; at 

 spoils that he can neither exhibit nor enjoy; but which, like a mi- 

 ser, he rests satisfied with having the satisfaction of sometimes visit- 

 ing and contemplating in secret. A piece of money, a tea-spoon, or 

 a ring, are always tempting baits to his avarice ; these he will slily 

 seize upon, and, if not watched, will carry to his favourite hole. 



In his wild state, the raven is an active and greedy plunderer. 

 Nothing comes amiss to him ; whether his prey be living or long dead 

 it is all the same, he falls to with a voracious appetite ; and when he 

 has gorged himself, flies to acquaint his fellows that they may partici- 

 pate of the spoil. If the carcass be already in the possession of some 

 more powerful animal, a wolf, a fox, or a dog, the raven sits at a lit- 

 tle distance, content to continue a humble spectator till they have done. 

 If in his flights he perceives no hopes of carrion, and his scent is so 

 exquisite that he can smell it at a vast distance, he then contents him- 

 self with more unsavory food, fruits, insects, and the accidental des- 

 sert of a dunghill. 



This bird chiefly builds its nest in trees, and lays five or six eggs 

 of a pa.e green colour, marked with small brownish spots. They live 

 sometimes in pairs, and sometimes they frequent, in great numbers, 

 the neighbourhood of populous cities, where they are useful in de- 

 vouring those carcasses that would otherwise putrefy and infect the 

 air. They build in high trees or old towers, in the beginning of 

 March, wit! us in England, and sometimes sooner, as the spring is 

 more or less advanced for the season. But it is not always near 

 towns that they fix their retreats; they often build in unfrequented 



