XLVL EAVEK 



(Corvus corax.} 



THE Eaven is not an every-day sight here, but seldom any very 

 long time passes without one's seeing and hearing two or three 

 of them flying high overhead and uttering their well-known 

 croak. They are very wary and unapproachable, more so than 

 even the Carrion Crows. Unlike them, it does not frequent the 

 seashore in search of food. I have several times kept tame 

 Eavens, which make most amusing, but rather inconvenient, pets 

 very affectionate to their owners, but mischievous in the extreme, 

 and malevolent towards strangers. My first, a very fine large 

 bird, had the name of " Beelzebub," which many of my friends 

 thought it deserved. The nest from which it was taken was 

 near Loch Ard, on a high rock, called by a poet in that neigh- 

 bourhood, " the Craig of Grahame's destiny." It was very wild 

 at first, but by keeping it beside me it soon got quite tame, 

 and would sit on my shoulder without ever offering to bite. 

 When a visitor called, it always made a point of ascertaining 

 whether he wore boots or shoes, and applied its beak accordingly, 

 and was especially severe on thinly- shod ladies. When -I had 

 him in my room one day to draw his portrait, he collected my 

 slippers and put them in a basin of water which I had set for 

 him to drink or wash in. When corrected for his misdoings, he 

 would lie down and croak penitentially, and as soon as forgiven 

 would repeat the offence. 



Woe to any hedgehog, toad, or other small animal he might 



meet when out walking with me in the country. He would 



proceed to bore holes in them if they were not rescued at once. 



Even the flowers did not escape his destructive beak. One day 



G 97 



