THE RAVEN 171 



had got away. Two days later he noticed two Ravens 

 flying in the same direction, in a straight line. Then two 

 more ; and yet again two more. The Highlander who was 

 with him predicted that where the Ravens would alight, 

 there he would find the missing stag. 



This proved quite correct. "The stag had evidently 

 only died the day before, but the birds had already made 

 their breakfast upon him, and were now on their way to 

 their evening meal." Yet where the Ravens had come 

 from was not clear. They were not common in the neigh- 

 bourhood, and the Highlander had never seen more than a 

 single pair flying. 



Where the carcase of some dead animal attracts many 

 different kinds of birds, it is said that the first bird to 

 arrive is the Raven. Mr. Lodge, in one of his books, 

 describes the coming of one on such an occasion. 



" Presently, a deep guttural croak from the top of some 

 tree near at hand would tell one that the Raven had 

 arrived. After it had satisfied itself that all was safe, it 

 would fly down and advance with long hops to the feast. 

 Sometimes I had from six to a dozen of these birds in front 

 of me at a time, and could often hear them on the tree 

 trunk within a few inches of my head. At times they 

 made a curious bubbling kind of note, which might almost 

 be called a song, accompanied with much puffing of the 

 throat and long throat-feathers." 



Ravens when tamed do not lose their sharpness of 

 wits. There are plenty of stories to prove this. Let me 

 relate one here. 



A terrier dog belonging to the landlord of a country 

 inn had grown to be great friends with a tame Raven. 

 They not only were a good deal together, but even went 

 off together frequently to the woods a-hunting. If it was 



