226 
RAVENS. 
that it is necessary for those who harbour them, to 
keep a constant watch on their motions, for they will 
catch up anything that is glittering, and carry it off 
to some secret hiding-place. Stories without end 
might he told of their thieving propensities. Let one 
suffice: a gentlemans butler having missed a great 
many silver spoons, and other articles, without a 
suspicion as to who might he the thief, at last 
observed a tame Raven with one in his mouth, and 
watching him to his hiding-place, discovered more 
than a dozen. But pilferers as they are, and inclined 
to mischief, they have redeeming good qualities, 
which often make them deservedly great favourites, 
and they may be sometimes trained for useful 
purposes. 
Thus, the landlord of an inn, in Cambridgeshire, 
was in possession of a Raven which frequently 
went hunting with a dog that had been bred up 
with him. On their arrival at a cover, the dog 
entered, and drove the hares and rabbits from the 
thicket, whilst the Raven, posted on the outside of 
the cover, seized every one that came in his way, 
when the dog immediately hastened to his assistance, 
and, by their joint efforts, nothing escaped. On 
various occasions, the Raven has proved of more use 
than a ferret, and has been known to enter a barn 
with several dogs, and enjoy the sport of rat-hunting. 
The sagacity of these birds is certainly quite extra- 
ordinary, and might almost lead us to suppose that 
they were gifted with reasoning powers. 
It would be needless to enumerate the many in- 
stances which might he mentioned. We must quote 
a few, commencing with one communicated by a 
