224 RAVENS. 



shot : it proved to be the female, whose young ones 

 had unfortunately been hatched, and were then 

 nearly fledged. For a time, the surviving parent 

 hovered about the nest, uttering loud and menacing 

 croakings whenever anybody approached. At length, 

 however, he disappeared, and absented himself for 

 two or three days, and then returned with another 

 mate ; when a strange scene occurred. The poor 

 half-starved nestlings, were attacked without mercy 

 by the stepmother ; who, after severely wounding, 

 precipitated them from the nest ; two, however, were 

 found at the foot of the tree with signs of life, and 

 with great care and attention, reared at the rectory, 

 about half a mile distant, and, after being slightly 

 pinioned, were allowed their liberty; but they seldom 

 quitted the lawn or offices, roosting in a tree in the 

 shrubbery. Here, however, they were soon dis- 

 covered by their unnatural parents, who, for a long 

 time, used to come at early dawn and pounce upon 

 them with fierce cries. This antipathy to their 

 young (which by several authors has been considered 

 as peculiar to Ravens), has been remarked by many, 

 who have not only known them to show great in- 

 difference to any young ones accidentally thrown 

 out of the nest, but have further ascertained that 

 the parents actually devour them. 



It would appear from some passages in the Sacred 

 Scriptures, that the desertion of their young had not 

 escaped the observation of the inspired writers. It 

 was certainly a current belief, in the olden times, 

 that when the Raven saw its young ones newly 

 hatched, and covered with down, it conceived such 

 an aversion, that it forsook them, and did not return 



