forcibly in the Jewish Bible. "Who provideth for the raven his food, when his young ones cry unto God, and wander for lack of meat?" A passage of similar import occurs in Ps. cxlvii. 9: "He giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry." An evident reference is made to these passages in Luke xii. 24: "Consider the ravens : for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them how much more are ye better than the fowls?"

In all these cases reference is made to a curious idea which prevailed respecting the Raven. It was thought that the Raven was a cruel parent, and that after the eggs were hatched it cared nothing for the young until they were full fledged. As, moreover, the bird was thought to be peculiarly late in attaining its plumage, the young Ravens must all die of hunger, were they not fed in some remarkable manner. This subject is treated at some length by Luis of Grenada in his Sermons. As the passage in question is a very curious one, I give both the original and a translation. For the latter I am indebted to the Rev. C. J. Smith, author of "Synonyms and Antonyms," who has preserved, with much success, the quaint structure of the language.

"Dominica XIV. post Pent. Concio 1:

"Nisi hæc enim omnia magnam nobis admirationis materiam divinæque providentia notitiam præberent, nequaquam Dominus inter cetera sapientiæ et providentiæ suæ argumenta hoc etiam commemoraret, cum ad Job ait: Quis præparat corvo escam suam, quando pulli ejus clamant ad Deum vagantes eò quòd non habeant cibos ?' Et in Psal.: 'Qui dat jumentis escam ipsorum et pullis corvorum invocantibus eum.' 2

"Cur autem hoc in loco pullorum corvi præcipuè meminerit, in causa est, quod in his miro modo singularis providentiæ cura elucet. Ait enim interpres quidam corvorum pullos eum implumes adhuc sunt, candorem præ se ferre: ideoque a parentibus ut nothos negligi, quod eorum non referant colorem. Quo tempore divina providentia, quæ nusquam dormit, eos ad se clamantes alit. Vermiculos enim quosdam in nidulo nasci constituit, quorum esu sustentantur donec nono tandem die nascentibus plumis parentum colorem referant, atque ita demum ab illis nutriantur.

"Cum igitur divina providentia nulla in re neque animalculis istis etiam si a patribus deserantur desit, quanta illa diffidentia est, quæ solis hominibus eam deesse profitetur? Si homo inter omnes inferioris hujus mundi creaturas nobilissimum et pulcherrimum animal est, si solus ipse Dei imagine insignitus, si ipse hujus magnæ familiæ princeps ac dominus est, si ejus obsequio cuneta militant, si omnia rerum conditor subiecit pedibus ejus oves et boves universas, insuper et pecora campi, &c. qui fieri potest ut cum hujus mundi moderator Dñs nullum neque animalculum neque vermiculum a providentiæ suæ cura excludat, sed omnibus abunde omnia suppeditat, pium hominem (cujus obsequio cuncta destinavit) fame et inedia confici patiatur. Si pater aliquis filii sui familiam, servos, ancillas, et jumenta diligenter curaret, illisque necessaria abunde provideret, quomodo filium fame perire sineret, cujus familiam tanta cura fovet et alit? Quis enim hoc in animum inducere possit? Hæc ijitur altera ratio est qua celestis Magister diffidentiam nostram curare, et spem alere atque fulcire studet."

"Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Sermon 1:

"For if it were not that all these things afford to us great matter of admiration and demonstration of the providence of God, it were in vain that the Lord, among other tokens of His wisdom and providence, had selected this also, when He saith in Job: Who provideth for the raven his food? when his young ones cry unto God, wandering for lack of meat.' And in the Psalms: Who giveth their own food to the cattle, and to the young ravens that call upon Him.'

"Now that in this place He hath been mainly mindful of the ravens' young, is partly for this cause, that marvellously in them the singular care of Providence doth show forth. For a certain annotator saith, that the young ravens while as yet they are unfledged do appear of whiteness, and therefore are neglected of their parents as if they were bastards, seeing that they resemble not their colour. At which time Divine Providence, who nowhere sleepeth, doth feed them who call upon Himself. For He causeth certain vermicles (small worms) to be bred in the little nest, by eating of which they are sustained, until at length on the ninth day, the feathers beginning to grow, they resemble the colour of their parents, and so come to be nourished by them.

"Seeing then that Divine Providence is never wanting in any matter, not even to these little creatures, though they be deserted of their parents, how great is that distrust which averreth that it is wanting unto men alone! If man be among all the creatures of this lower world the noblest and the fairest of things; if he alone be made illustrious by God's image; if he himself be of this great family the leader and lord; if in obedience to him all things serve; if the Constructor of all things hath put under his feet 'all sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field;' how shall it be that when the Lord, the Ruler of this world, shutteth out none, neither insect nor worm, from the care of His providence, but supplieth abundantly all things for all, He should suffer the righteous man, for whose service He hath appointed all things, to perish of hunger and lack of food?

"If it be that every father would diligently care for his son's household, and men-servants, and maid-servants, and cattle, and provide them abundantly with all things needful, how should He suffer His sons to perish whose families He cherisheth and feedeth with so great care? Who, indeed, could harbour such a thought? This then is another consideration whereby the heavenly Master seeks to cure our distrust, and to feed and stay our hope."

Some of the old writers improved on this legend by saying that the worms crawled into the mouths of the young Ravens, so that the birds had not even the trouble of picking them up.

Some of the ancient Jewish writers had an idea that the Raven was originally a white bird, and that its colour was changed by way of punishment for its evil disposition and deceitful conduct. A similar idea was held by the old mythological writers. They said that the Raven was formerly the favourite bird of Apollo, and that it was celebrated for its sweet song and snowy white plumage. Part of its duty was to bring water for its master from the fountain Hippocrene.

One day, instead of doing its duty, the bird amused itself in the garden, and at last fell asleep. Fearful when it awoke that it should be punished for its carelessness, the cunning Raven snatched up a snake, killed it, and brought it to Apollo, saying that the serpent had disputed the passage to the fountain, and that, after a long fight, it had just been killed. Apollo, angry with the bird for having told a lie, drove it from his presence,

and as it fled its musical voice turned into a harsh croak, and its white plumage became black.

"Liar!' exclaimed the god,

The Python-killer, as from his keen eye

The lightning darted, 'Me wouldst thou deceive
With such a wretched tale! Hence, hence! begone!
Black as thy falsehood fly through shuddering air,

A bird of lonely night! Dumb be thy voice

Of sweetest melody: henceforth thy cry

Tell but of woes and horrors, a wild shriek
Of darkness and dismay.''

"

Knight's Quarterly Magazine

Reference to the blackness of the Raven's plumage is made in the Song of Solomon. 'My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand.

"His beard is as the most fine gold, his locks are bushy and black as a Raven." (Cant. v. 10, 11.) A similar expression is common among ourselves.

On account of its mode of life, the Raven cannot exist in a wild state in cultivated ground. Hence it has disappeared from the greater part of England, and is seldom to be seen except on wide moors or in large forests. Cultivated ground affords it scarcely any food, and it is therefore a bird of the wilderness rather than of the towns.

Like all feeders on carrion, it is wonderfully quick in detecting a dead or dying animal, and rivals the vulture itself in the sharpness of its vision. If any one who is passing over a part of the country where Ravens still survive, should wish to see one of the birds, he has only to lie flat on the ground, and keep his eyes nearly shut, so as only to see through the lashes. Should there be a Raven within many miles, it is sure to discover the apparently dead body, and to alight at no great distance, walking round and round, with its peculiar sidelong gait, and, if it be not checked in time, will make a dash at the eye of the prostrate individual, and probably blind him for life.

This habit of pecking at the eye is inherent in all the crow tribe, probably because they know instinctively that if the animal will allow its eye to be pecked out it must be dead; and if it should still possess life, it would be blinded for the moment, so as to allow its assailant to escape. The Scriptures note this custom of the Raven, as we see in Prov. xxx. 17: "The eye that

mocketh at his father and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it."

The desert-loving habit of the Raven is noticed in Isa. xxxiv. 11: "The cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it: and He shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness."

WE will now pass to the notices of the Raven as given by the writers and commentators of the Talmud.

Being an unclean bird, and one of ill omen, it was not permitted to perch on the roof of the Temple. According to some writers, it was kept off by means of scarecrows, and according to others, by long and sharp iron spikes set so closely together that there was no room for the bird to pass between them. The latter is by far the more probable account, as the Raven is much too cunning a bird to be deceived by a scarecrow for any length of time. It might be alarmed at the first sight of a strange object, but in a very short time it would hold all scarecrows in supreme contempt.

Its carrion-eating propensities were well known to the ancient writers, who must have had many opportunities of seeing the Raven unite with the vultures in consuming the bodies, not only of dead animals, but of warriors killed in battle. So fond was the Raven of this food that, according to those writers, the very smell of human blood attracted the bird; and, if a man accidentally cut himself, or if he were bled for some illness, the odour of the blood would bring round the spot all the Ravens of the place.

The punctuality with which the Raven, in common with all its kin, returns to its roosting-place, was also familiar to the Talmudists, who made rather an ingenious use of this habit. The ceremonial law of the Jews required the greatest care in observing certain hours, and it was especially necessary to know the precise time which marked the separation of one day from another. This was ascertained easily enough as long as the day was clear, but in case of a dull, murky day, when the course of the sun could not be traced, some other plan was needed.

In the olden times, no artificial means of measuring time were known, and the devout Jew was consequently fearful lest he