150 HISTORY 'Ji' 



spaniel. Indeed, it is often an exercise that, without teaching, 

 all this tribe are but too fond of. Every body knows what a 

 passion they have for shining substances, and such toys as some 

 of us put a value upon. A whole family has been alarmed at the 

 loss of a ring; every servant has been accused, and every ciea- 

 ture in the house, conscious of their own innocence, suspected 

 each other ; when to the utter surprise of all, it has been found 

 in the nest of a tame magpie or a jackdaw, that nobody had ever 

 thought of. 



However, as this class is very numerous, it is not to be sup- 

 posed that the manners are alike in all. Some, such as the 

 pigeon, are gentle and serviceable to man ; others are noxious, 

 capricious, and noisy. In a few general characters they all 

 agree ; namely, in having hoarse voices, slight active bodies, and 

 a facility of flight, that baffles even the boldest of the rapacious 

 kinds in the pursuit. I will begin with those birds which most 

 properly may be said to belong to this class, and go on till I 

 finish with the pigeon, a harmless bird, that resembles this tribe 

 in little else except their size, and that seems to be the shade 

 uniting the pie and the sparrow kind into one general picture. 



It is not to be expected that in this sketch of the great maga- 

 zine of nature, we can stop singly to contemplate every object. 

 To describe the number that offers would be tedious, and the 

 similitude that one bears to another would make the history dis- 

 gusting. As a historian in relating the actions of some noble 

 people does not stop to give the character of every private man 

 in the army, but only of such as have been distinguished by their 

 conduct, courage, or treachery ; so should the historian of nature 

 only seize upon the most striking objects before him ; and hav- 

 ing given one common account of the most remarkable, refer 

 the peculiarities of the rest to their general description. 



CHAP. II. 



OF THE RAVEN, THE CROW, AND THEIR AFFINITIES. 



The Raven, the Carrion crow, and the Rook, are birds so 

 well known, that a long dcscrijUion wcr.ld but obscure our 



