Ravens vie with our brave Arctic explorers in the wide circuit they make
in their wanderings.
When Captain McClure was frozen up in the ice, during his last
expedition to the North Pole, two ravens settled themselves near his
ship, for the sake of obtaining the scraps of food thrown to them by the
seamen. A dog belonging to the ship, however, regarding their pickings
as an encroachment on his rights, used, as they drew near, to rush
forward and endeavour to seize them with his mouth; but the ravens were
too cunning to be entrapped in that manner. No sooner were the
mess-tins cleared out than they would approach, and as he sprang after
them, would fly a few yards off, and there keep a sharp eye on his
movements. Having enticed him to a distance, they would fly rapidly
towards the ship, with a chuckle of satisfaction; and before the dog
arrived, all the best bits had been secured by his cunning rivals.