180 THE RAVEN AND THE DOG. 



session of the kennel; and a new house-dog having 

 been introduced, which in size and colour resembled 

 that lately lost, the poor Goose was unhappily 

 deceived; and going, as usual, within his reach, the 

 new dog seized her by the throat, and killed her on 

 the spot. 



We knew a similar instance of strong attachment 

 formed betwen a Raven and a large otter-dog. The 

 Raven had been taken when young, and reared in a 

 stable-yard, where the dog was kept chained up. 

 A friendship soon commenced, which, increasing 

 from little to more, in time ripened into a most ex- 

 traordinary degree of intimacy. At first, the bird 

 was satisfied with hopping about in the vicinity of 

 the kennel, and occasionally pecking a hasty morsel 

 from the dog's feeding-pan, when the latter had 

 finished his meal; finding, however, no interruption 

 on the part of his friend, the Raven soon became a 

 constant attendant at meal-times, and taking up his 

 position on the edge of the dish, acted the part of a 

 regular guest, and partaker of the dog's dinner, 

 which consisted usually of meal and milk, with 

 occasional scraps of oftal meat, a piece of which the 

 bird would often snatch up, almost from the very 

 mouth of the dog, and hasten beyond the reach of 

 his chain, as if to tantalize his four-footed friend, 

 and then hopping towards him, would play about, 

 and hang it close to his nose, and then as speedily, 

 at the moment the dog was preparing to snap it up, 

 would dart off beyond the reach of the chain. At 

 other times he would hide the piece of meat under a 

 stone, and then coming back, with a cunning look, 

 would perch upon the dog's head. It was observed, 



