The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1904-10-03

. the other bounced upon the quarry.
Wild ravens have. in ike manner been
! observed, upon occasions, TO hunt their
prey in couples.
The strange story of yet another
raven 1 owe, in outline, to John Digby,
of the Middle Tempe who got it from
his friend, the owner, and saw much
of what it relates. A female raven,
known at that time to be sc years old,
and who had passed much of her early
and middle life with a strange comp
anton, a blind porcupine, was given, in
the year 1854, by ]. H. Quincy. the we'll
known ornithologist. TO the rector of
| Bluntisham, in Huntingdonshire. She
| seemed so disconsolate at the loss of
her surroundings that her new owner
failing to get another raven, managed
to secure a seaguIl as her companion.
A warm friendship soon sprang up be-
tween the birds. They followed one
another about everywhere, and the
raven used often TO treat her companion
to pieces of putrid meat which she had
buried, for her own consumption, in
the shubberies. These Were delicacies
in the eyes OF the raven, but they We're
not so good for the gull. In course of
time, whether from indigestion or not,
the gull fell i'll and the raven became
more aSsiduous than ever in her atten-
lions, never leaving him and plying him
with her most nauseous lit-bits. The
gull grew worse. as was, perhaps, mat
uraI under the treatment, and less
companionable; and one day, when he
positively refused to touch a more I'M
savory morsel than usual which the
raven had denied to herself, and, doubt
less, thought to be a panacea, the
raven, in a fit of fury at the ingrati-
tude of her patient, fell upon her friend,
killed it, tore it to pieces, and burying
half of it for future consumption, de-
voured the rest.
''Of course, tame raven is an arrant
thief, and if you let him loose you must
expect to pay for your amusement.
Anything bright especially attracts him.
A butler who had lost spoon after
spoon, and had thrown the blame upon
every one but the real offender, at last
saw Ralph with the proverbial silver
spoon in his mouth watched him sneak
off to the hole which served him for
savings bank. and found therein not
only the spoon which he had missed,
but others which he had not. The
bank, on this occasion, paid compound
interest on the deposit.
lone of my own tame ravens,
native of Raven Tarn, had the run of
a stable yard, of a garden and of a
field-in fact, pretty we'll also of the
whole of the adjoining village of STAFF
ford and no small boy, home for the
holidays, for the first time, from
school, could prove a greater imp of
mischief than he. He led the pigeons,
the ducks and the hens of the stable
yard sad life; but he gave the cocks
a wide berth, except when they were
busy fighting, and then he would at
tack them in safety and with perfect
impartiality, from the rear. When a
favorite cat was walking demurely and
daintily across the yard, Jacob, with
a few quiet sideiong hops, would come
up behind, his head also on one side,
as always when meditating mischief,
give her sharp nip in the tail, and
testify his delight at the panic he had
created by a loud croak He had priv
ate stores everywhere of sticks, bones,
buttons, nails, thimbles and even half
pence, some of which We're not dis
covered till after his death. and then
chiefly by his namesake and successor
and residuary legatee. If you ever
noticed him putting on a particularly
nonchalant air, you might be quite
sure ne ndQ SOME Stolen treasure
his mouth which he was particularly
anxious to stow away unobseryed.
HE was the friend of every one in /
the village, but the marplot of all who
had any work to do in it. Did he see
the gardener bedding out, with special
care, any particular plant, he would
select it for his especial attention as
soon as the gardeners back was turn
ed. Did he see a laborer in the al
lotment setting a row of his leans,
as soon as he was gone the raven
would follow in his footsteps, dig them
up one by one, and drop them, one
on the top of another, into a hole Of
his own. Did a we'll dressed man,
something perhaps of a dandy, drop
d new lilac kid glove, the raven would
be off with it in a moment, dodge all
his pursuers, and. the moment the pur-
suit slackened, would begin to pick it
to pieces and would continue his work,
each time the pursuers halted for
and tatters. He would follow me about
for a walk of a mile or so, and if he
happened to meet a dog, there was a
great show of excitement and fury on |
both sides: but each had too much !
regard for his own safety to come to !
close quarters. 1t was a case of cave |
corvum quite as much as cave canem. |
Continued on page 50