[Three Hundred Animals Contents]
RESEMBLES the daw, except in the whiteness of the breast and wings, and the length of the tail. The black of his feathers is accompanied with a changing gloss of green and purple. It is a very loquacious creature, and can be brought to imitate the human voice as well as any parrot. He feeds on every thing; worms and other insects, meat and cheese, bread and milk, all kind of seeds; and also, on small birds when they come in his way; the young of the black-bird, and of the thrush, and even a strayed chicken, often fall a prey to his rapacity. Fond of hiding pieces of money or wearing apparel, which he carries away by stealth, and with much dexterity, to his hole, he has often been the cause of apparently grounded suspicions against innocent servants. His cunning is also remarked in the manner of making his nest, which he covers all over with thorny branches, leaving only one hole for his ingress and egress, securing in that manner his beloved brood from the attack of their enemies.
