IN THE UPLAND. 133 



in order to ascertain whether the creature be really 

 disabled, and the feast sure. The shepherd looks out 

 from his retreat the while : the dog gets his order ; off he 

 scours, ere yet an eye of the sick or bemired sheep has 

 been transpierced by that bill which the spoiler has 

 been whetting against the mail of his legs, and exer- 

 cising, in order that he might therewith clear out the 

 sockets, and quarry through the sutures of the skull. 

 As the dog approaches, the raven hops as if he were 

 going in another direction ; but he wheels, and though 

 he avoids contact, there is a good deal of manoeuvring. 

 The shepherd comes, the sheep, if not past relief, is 

 relieved, and the disappointed raven rises and flies ofY 

 to be more successful elsewhere. If he had found the 

 sheep, or even if he had found an ox, or a mountain 

 pony, sticking in the mud and unguarded, he would 

 have delved out its eyes, left it to linger and die in the 

 greatest agony, and 'returned to the carcass when he 

 had reduced all the animals that he could to the same 

 state. 



About the same season the hare often falls a sacrifice 

 as she sits on her form ; and the rabbit as it comes out 

 of its burrow. The harriers and other birds of prey 

 that beat about the bushes, often aid the raven in the 

 capture of hares. When these birds are on the wing, 

 the hares lie close and are alarmed, and the raven, 

 whose eye is as acute over a short distance as his sense 

 of smell is over a long one, hops in, pounces upon one 

 eye, and repeats it upon the other before the hare has 

 time to escape. Indeed one poke is often all that is 

 required, as a well-aimed thrust not only demolishes 

 the eye, but will penetrate the thin part of the skull 



