STORIES OF CROWS. 477 



other animals. These facts are confirmed by numerous anecdotes 

 related by naturalists of undoubted veracity. 



Pliny speaks of a raven which established itself in one of the 

 public places of Rome, and called out the name of each passer-by, 

 from the emperor to the humblest citizen. We have all laughed 

 heartily at the recital of an adventure which happened to an awkward 

 horseman, who lost his seat, while a raven perched on a branch of a 

 tree above him cried out with a solemn voice, " How silly !" 



Dr. Franklin thus speaks of a raven of his acquaintance which 

 had been brought up at a country inn : — " It had/' he says, "great 

 recollection of persons, and knew perfectly all the coachmen, with 

 whom it lived on the greatest intimacy. With its special friends it 

 took certain innocent liberties, such as mounting on the top of their 

 carriage and riding out with them until it met some other driver 

 with which it was on terms of similarly close friendship, when it 

 would return home." The same raven had unusual sympathy with 

 dogs in general, and especially those which happened to be lame. 

 These it loaded with the most delicate attentions, keeping them 

 company, and carrying them bones to gnaw. This excessive kind- 

 ness to animals which are rarely in the good graces of ravens arose 

 from this bird having been reared along with a dog, for which it 

 entertained such strong regard, that it attended it with unremitting 

 assiduity when it had the misfortune to break its leg. 



The same author mentions another raven which was captured in 

 Russia, and came to be confined in the Jardin des Plantes of Paris. 

 It recognised Dr. Monin when he stopped accidentally before its 

 cage. It had belonged to him ten years back, and when brought 

 before its old master it leaped upon his shoulder and covered him 

 with caresses. The doctor reclaimed his property, and the bird was 

 henceforth an ornament to his house near Blois, where it learnt to 

 address the country-people as " great hogs." Dr. Franklin raised 

 one of these birds himself, which showed wonderful powers of imi- 

 tation. " He called himself Jacob. Sometimes it made such a noise 

 at the bottom of the stairs that you could only imagine it was caused 

 by a party of three or four children quarrelling with great violence ; 

 at other times it would imitate the crowing of a cock, the mewing of 

 a cat, the barking of a dog, or the sound produced by a rattle for 

 frightening away birds from a wheat-field ; then a silence would 

 ensue ; but soon after the crying of a child of two years of age would 

 be mimicked; 'Jacob! Jacob!' its own name, probably it would 

 then call, repeating the cry at first in a grave tone, then with shriller 

 intonation and more vociferously ; again another silence ; but after a 



