188 Audubon's Ornithological Biography. 



length search for maintenance in their company, until the 

 period of breeding arrives, when they separate in pairs and 

 disperse. . . . The period of incubation extends to nineteen 

 or twenty days. The young remain in the nest many weeks 

 before they are able to fly. The old birds return to the 

 same nest for years in succession ; and should one of them 

 be destroyed, the other will lead a new partner to the same 

 abode. Even after the young have made their appearance, 

 should one of the parents be killed, the survivor usually 

 manages to find a mate, who undertakes the task of assisting 

 in feeding them." 



According to Mr. Audubon, the American raven never 

 builds its nest in trees ; and, though they are generally 

 placed on lofty eminences, Mr. Audubon mentions an instance 

 of one nest being placed in the deep fissure of a rock not more 

 than twenty feet above the water, hanging over the stream, 

 so that it was impossible to reach it either from above or 

 below. Another instance is also given of a raven's nest being 

 placed in the deep fissure of a rock in the immediate vicinity 

 of a nest of the golden eagle: this was in the highlands in 

 the state of New York. The disposition of birds, or what 

 the French call leur morale, is generally given by naturalists 

 on the principle of their supposed use or injury to man. 

 Mr. Audubon is always disposed to judge favourably of the 

 feathered race when he can. Speaking of the unrelenting 

 enmity with which the ravens are assailed by man, he says, 

 — U It is true that the raven may sometimes hasten the 

 death of a half-starved sheep, or destroy a weakly lamb ; 

 he may eat the eggs of other birds, or occasionally steal from 

 the farmer some of those which he calls his own. Young 

 fowls, also, afford precious morsels for himself and his pro- 

 geny ; but how many sheep, lambs, and fowls are saved 

 through his agency ! The more intelligent of our farmers 

 are well aware that the raven destroys numberless insects, 

 grubs, and worms ; that he kills mice, moles, and rats when- 

 ever he can find them ; that he will seize the weasel, the 

 young opossum, and the skunk ; that, with the perseverance 

 of a cat, he will watch the burrows of foxes, and pounce on 

 the cubs. Our farmers, also, are fully aware that he apprises 

 them of the wolf's prowlings around their yard, and that he 

 never intrudes on their corn fields except to benefit them. . . . 

 The flight of the raven is powerful, even, and, at certain 

 seasons, greatly protracted. During calm and fair weather, 

 it often ascends to an immense height ; and, although it can- 

 not be called swift, it propels itself with sufficient power to 

 enable it to contend with different species of hawks, and even 



