Raven Language 217 



the most entertaining ; curiously, too, he was alone, other 

 Ravens invariably coming in pairs. The first intimation I 

 had of his presence was a croak very close at hand, and 

 almost immediately he alighted on my tree. There he sat 

 cawing and chuckling to himself for a long time, sometimes 

 changing his perch a little, the variety of his repertoire 

 being extraordinary ; no sound uttered beyond a half tone, 

 but almost every voice of the mountain being imitated in 

 turn, and some of the notes defying all similes. He yapped 

 like a dog, reproduced the call of a grouse, and a crow, to 

 perfection, bleated like a sheep, or a goat, and made all 

 sorts of metallic noises, from the click of a blacksmith's 

 anvil to the creaking of a rusty hinge. Very leisurely he 

 descended from the tree-top, till at length he sat on a 

 branch immediately above me, and so close that I could 

 have touched him easily with a walking-stick, there being 

 nothing but the fir branches, thickened by a layer of fern 

 leaves, between us. Then he went down and inspected my 

 " bait " (it was nothing but wool and a bone or two), and 

 then flew back to the wall beside me. An idea then seemed 

 to strike him, and deliberately flying down into the wood 

 at the back of the hut, he caught sight of a boot through 

 the open door, and next moment was off through the trees 

 as fast as his great wings could carry him. Needless to say, 

 he never returned, and (probably no more than a co- 

 incidence) though I tried the place again many times, during 

 several weeks after that, not another Raven ever came near 

 again. Many passed ; but though new baits were provided, 

 not a bird would come down even so much as to inspect 

 them. 



One day, when crossing a rather thickly wooded valley 

 amongst the lower hills, I had a remarkable experience of 

 the cunning and sagacity of the Raven. On the side of the 

 hill along which I was walking were many old oaks, the 

 opposite slope being covered with thick scrub, and young 

 trees, for about half its height, opening on to heather and 

 rocks above. A pair of Ravens came soaring overhead, 

 and, getting behind some trees, I was watching them with 

 my glasses, when I became aware that a couple of collies 



