at sixty feet. These trees were sold at twenty 

 pounds apiece. 



In the centre of this grove there stood an oak, 

 which, though shapely and tall on the whole, bulged 

 out into a large excrescence about the middle of the 

 stem. On this a pair of ravens had fixed their resi- 

 dence for such a series of years, that the oak was dis- 

 tinguished by the title of the Raven Tree. Many 

 were the attempts of the neighbouring youths to get 

 at this eyry : the difficulty whetted their inclinations, 

 and each was ambitious of surmounting the arduous 

 task. But when they arrived at the swelling, it 

 jutted out so in their way, and was so far beyond 

 their grasp, that the most daring lads were awed, 

 and acknowledged the undertaking to be too hazard- 

 ous. So the ravens built on, nest upon nest, in per- 

 fect security, till the fatal day arrived in which the 

 wood was to be levelled. It was in the month of 

 February, when those birds usually sit. The saw 

 was applied to the butt, the wedges were inserted 

 into the opening, the woods echoed to the heavy 

 blows of the beetle or mallet, the tree nodded to its 

 fall ; but still the dam sat on. At last, when it gave 

 way, the bird was flung from her nest ; and, though 

 her parental affection deserved a better fate, \vas 

 whipped down by the twigs, which brought her 

 dead to the ground. 



8 



