226 RAVENS. 



attention to the nests, immediately took her place, 

 and continued to sit very closely, though uselessly, 

 over the chilled and lifeless eggs, which were com- 

 pletely addled. 



At all events, while sitting or rearing its progeny, 

 the Raven deserves the highest credit for persevering 

 attachment, and has been known (though one of the 

 shyest and most suspicious of birds) to die rather than 

 desert its post. Mr. White, the naturalist, of Sel- 

 borne, speaks of an old oak as his Raven-tree, 

 which bulged out into a large excrescence in the 

 middle of the stem, defying the attempts of all who 

 aspired to get at the nest. Many had tried in vain ; 

 all were ambitious of surmounting the arduous task, 

 but when they arrived at the swelling, it jutted out 

 so in their way, and was so far beyond their grasp, 

 that the most daring and expert climbers were awed, 

 and were obliged to give up the undertaking as too 

 hazardous. So the Raven built on, nest after nest, 

 in perfect security, till a fatal day arrived, when the 

 wood was to be levelled. It was in the month of 

 February, and the old one was on her nest. The 

 saw and the hatchet w r ere both at work, the wedges 

 were inserted into the opening, the woods echoed to 

 the heavy blows of the beetle or mallet, the tree 

 nodded to its fall ; but still the dam sat on. At last, 

 when it gave way, the bird was flung from her nest, 

 and, though her constancy deserved a better fate, 

 was whipped down by twigs, which brought her dead 

 to the ground. 



But constant or affectionate as they may be to 

 their brood, it lasts but for a time; and as is the 

 case with Eagles, and indeed almost all birds, when 



