BIRDS OF PREY. 163 
lustrous as steel, has seen the forward movement; he leaps away; if 
need be, he climbs a branch or two higher; he growls in his turn— 
he admonishes his companion. 
This facetious personage has in his pleasantry the advantage due to 
the seriousness, gravity, and sadness of his demeanour. I saw one 
daily, in the streets of Nantes, on the threshold of an alley, which, 
in his demi-captivity, could only console himself for his clipped wings 
by playing tricks with the dogs. He suffered the curs to pass 
unmolested ; but when his malicious eye espied a dog of handsome 
figure, worthy indeed of his courage, he hopped behind him, and, by 
a skilful and unperceived manceuvre, leapt upon his back, gave him, 
hot and dry, two stabs with his strong black beak: the dog fled, 
howling. Satisfied, tranquil, and serious, the crow returned to his 
post, and one could never have supposed that so grim-looking a fellow 
had just indulged in such an escapade. 
It is said that in a state of freedom, strong in their spirit of 
association, and in their numbers, they hazard the most audacious 
games, even to watching the absence of the eagle, stealing into his 
redoubtable nest, and robbing it of the eggs. And, what is more 
difficult to believe, naturalists pretend to have seen great troops of 
them, which, when the eagle is at home, and defending his family, 
deafen him with their cries, defy him, entice him forth, and contrive, 
though not without a battle, to carry off an eaglet. 
