Tlie Raven. 267 
imitate the human voice, in articulating words. At the 
seat of the Marquis of Aylesbury, in Wiltshire, a tame 
Raven, that had been taught to speak, used to ramble 
about in the park, where he was commonly attended 
and beset with crows, rooks, and others of his inquisitive 
tribe. When a considerable number of these were col- 
lected round him, he would lift up his head, and with 
a hoarse and hollow voice shout out Holloa ! This would 
instantly put to flight and disperse his sable brethren ; 
while the Eaven seemed to enjoy the fright he had 
occasioned. When domesticated, the Eaven is of great 
service, both as a scavenger and in keeping watch, in 
the last of which he is more alert and vigilant than 
almost any other animal. The Eaven was the ensign of the 
invading Danes, and the prejudice thereby engendered 
against the bird is not yet quite extinct. Of its per- 
severance in the act of incubation, Mr. White relates 
the following singular anecdote : 
" In the centre of a grove near Selborne, there stood 
an oak, which, though on the whole shapely and tall, 
bulged out into a large excrescence near the middle of 
the stem. On this tree a pair of Eavens had fixed their 
residence for such a series of years, that the oak was dis- 
tinguished by the title of • The Eaven-tree.' Many 
were the attempts of the neighbouring youths to get at 
this nest : 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 
boldest lads were deterred and acknowledged the under- 
taking to be too hazardous. Thus the Eavens continued 
to build, nest upon nest, in perfect security, till the fatal 
day on which the wood was to be levelled. This was in the 
month of February, when those birds usually sit. The 
saw was applied to the trunk, the wedges were inserted 
into the opening, the wood echoed to the heavy blows of 
the mallet, the tree nodded to its fall ; but still the dam 
persisted in sitting. At last, when it gave way, the bird 
was flung from her nest ; and though her parental affec- 
tion deserved a better fate, was whipped down by the 
twigs, which brought her dead to the ground !" 
