THE EAVEN. 
733 ' 
himself by worrying every living tiling in the place; 
played with any little article he could find, often burying 
it, as indeed he would any portion of his food which 
remained over. His duels with the Cock were magni¬ 
ficent; he chased the Hens from their food, and the 
Ducks and Geese, even, were obliged to capitulate. 
Another Raven, which my father had, used to kill the 
chickens, and attack small children, which misdeeds 
finally led to his execution. 
Hall, an Englishman, speaks of a Raven, kept at a 
public-house, which was trained to call and drive the 
Fowls to feed: one day this bird stole all the silver spoons 
from the parlour for the benefit of his guests, and laid 
them out before them on a heap of rubbish, a cover for 
each Hen, and then played the part of host. 
Naumann speaks of the Raven in the capacity of foster- 
father :—“ A boy had taken a young Raven from the nest 
and reared it. Some ten days after, as soon as the bird 
could feed itself, the boy procured two young Rooks, 
which, along with the Raven, he fed on Rooks’ flesh. 
The Rooks took their food as usual, amid much noise, 
from the hand of their keeper: this seemed to touch the 
heart of the Raven, and he forthwith undertook the task 
of feeding them himself, and whenever the Rooks called 
for food he fed them. The boy had now only to cater for 
the kitchen, the office of nurse being fulfilled by the young 
Raven, a task of which he was never tired,—feeding, not 
only the first two, but several other young Rooks that 
were handed over to his care ! ” 
Old Ravens often show the same desire to act as foster- 
parents, though their proteges are often, despite friendly 
intentions, much troubled by their guardians. The 
naturalist, Pietruvsky, possessed a Raven who elected to 
