182 RAVENS. 



which had been in confinement with the Canary birds for 

 three or four years, without paying any attention to the nests, 

 immediately took her place, and continued to sit very closely, 

 though uselessly, over the chilled and lifeless eggs, which 

 were completely addled. 



At all events, while sitting or rearing its progeny, the 

 Raven deserves the highest credit for persevering attachment, 

 and has been known (though one of the shyest and most 

 suspicious of birds) to die rather than desert its post. Mr. 

 White, the naturalist, of Selborne, speaks of an old oak as 

 his Eaven-tree, which bulged out into a large excrescence in 

 the middle of the stem, defying the attempts of all who 

 aspired to get at the nest. Many had tried in vain ; all 

 were ambitious of surmounting the arduous task, but when 

 they arrived at the swelling, it jutted out so in their way, 

 and was so far beyond their grasp, that the most daring and 

 expert climbers were awed, and were obliged to give up the 

 undertaking as too hazardous. So the Eaven built on, nest 

 after nest, in perfect security, till a fatal day arrived when 

 the wood was to be levelled. It was in the month of 

 February, and the old one was on her nest. The saw and 

 the hatchet were both at work, the wedges were inserted into 

 the opening, the woods echoed to the heavy blows of the 

 beetle or mallet, the tree nodded to its fall ; but still the dam 

 sat on. At last when it gave way the bird was flung from 

 her nest, and though her constancy deserved a better fate, 

 was whipped down by twigs, which brought her dead to the 

 ground. 



But constant or affectionate as they may be to their brood, 

 it lasts but for a time ; and as is the case with Eagles, and 

 indeed almost all birds, when the young ones are sufficiently 

 matured to take care of themselves, the old ones invariably 

 drive them away and live independently. We have noticed 

 their hostility to the Jackdaws and other birds daring to in- 

 trude on their favourite haunts ; they are themselves, how- 

 ever, occasionally very outrageous marauders on the property 

 of others. Between Eooks and Eavens, if a rookery per- 

 chance is within visiting distance of a Eaven's abode, there 



