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CHAPTER V. 

 THS PIE SITO. 



" Hark ! 'tis the raven's dismal croak, 



My boding- breast is filTd with fear; 



Yet once beneath that spreading oak, 



The bird of woe I smil'd to hear." — Miss Robinson. 



"Oft have I lov'd to mark the rook's slow course, 

 And hear his hollow croak." — Southey. 



We shall now proceed to review a class of volatiles, different 

 from each of the former, but partaking in some degree of the 

 nature of both. 



THE PIE KIND 



Is that race of birds which are generally considered as the 

 least beneficial to man. Few of them, except the pigeon, con- 

 tribute to furnish us with food, while numbers make free with 

 the fruits of our industry. We cannot, however, see through 

 the vast and complicated plan of Divine Wisdom ; and perhaps 

 we are more indebted to this noisy, restless, chattering tribe, 

 than we imagine, and derive from them benefits of which we are 

 ignorant. 



THE RAVEN, THE ROOK, AND THE CARRION 

 CROW, 



Are so generally known, that any description of them would 

 be superfluous, and tend rather to obscure than improve our 

 ideas. The raven is the largest of the three, and is distinguished 

 from both the others by his bill being more hooked. As for the 

 rook and the carrion crow, they so nearly resemble each other 

 as not to be easily discriminated. The principal and most ob- 

 vious distinction is in the colour of their plumage, which in the 

 rook is more glossy, with something of a purple cast, while 

 that of the carrion crow is of a more dingy black. Their resem- 

 blance, however, is so great that the rook often suffers on that 

 account, and is frequently destroyed instead of the other, to which 

 he is, in size and colour, so nearly similar. 



The raven is a strong, hardy, and active bird, uninfluenced 

 by any change of weather, and capable of supporting the rigours 

 of every climate. He is not oppressed by the sultry heats of the 

 torrid zone, nor benumbed by the intense cold of the pola~ 

 regions ; although, like many other animals in those parts, he 

 changes his colour and acquires a white plumage. That a nird 

 which is so little affected by any inconveniencies of climate, 

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