156 THE HAVEN 



his home, and that, at that time of the year, his 

 home must be his nest and his little ones. Next 

 day, I followed, as nearly as I could, in his view- 

 less track, and there, in the biggest tree of the 

 clump and looking over a wide swamp, was the 

 raven's nest, and in it five fully-fledged young birds. 

 It was the most successful stalk that I had ever 

 had in bird's-nesting. I managed to bring one of 

 the young ravens safely down in a handkerchief, in 

 my teeth ; and, for seventeen years afterwards, it 

 remained one of the most delightful of our pets and 

 most amusing of our companions at Harrow. 



Is it true or not true a curious and current 

 belief that the raven lives to an immense age, some 

 say to a hundred or even to three hundred or more 

 years ? Old Hesiod is the father of the belief, and 

 he is supported, more or less, by a host of ancient 

 writers, the elder Pliny, Cicero, Aristophanes, 

 Horace, Ovid, and Ausonius. Popular opinion, in 

 modern times, quite agrees with them, as expressed 

 in the Highland proverb, somewhat modified from 

 Hesiod : 



" Thrice the life of a dog is the life of a horse, 

 Thrice the life of a horse is the life of a man, 

 Thrice the life of a man is the life of a stag, 

 Thrice the life of a stag is the life of a raven.'' 



