436 
RAVEN. 
busy and inquisitive, constantly introducing him- 
self wherever he can, and as constantly carrying off 
whatever he is able to lay hold of. We have fre- 
quently seen him hop away with an old black silk 
cloak, which a poor woman used to pull off in the 
house before she began her work ; but he seems 
more particularly attached to money, tea spoons, 
or rings ; these he will slily seize, and, if not ob- 
served, carry them to his hiding-place, where they 
sometimes remain for a considerable time before 
they are discovered. This bird is inclined to prate, 
and may be taught to pronounce several words : it 
appears too, that he possesses great musical talents; 
but we must beg leave to decline saying any thing 
of this accomplishment, not having been so fortu- 
nate as Dr. Goldsmith, who “ heard a raven sing 
the Black Joke with great distinctness, truth, and 
humour.” 
Ravens build their nests on the tops of old desert- 
ed towers, in the clefts of rocks, or on the high 
branches of large straggling trees, and they are said 
to be particularly attached to the place where they 
are bred. About the end of February, or beginning 
of March, the female lays five or six eggs, of a pale 
blueish green, marked with spots and streaks of a 
dirty colour. She sits about twenty days ; and her 
attachment to her eggs during the time is strongly 
marked in the following account which Mr. White 
has given of this bird : “In the centre of a grove near 
Selborne, there stood an oak, which, though shapely 
and tall on the whole, bulged out into a large ex- 
