208 OMNIVOROUS BIRDS. 



to the heavy blows of the beetle or mallet, and the tree 

 nodded to its fall; but still the devoted Raven sat on. 

 At last, when it gave way, she was flung from her an- 

 cient eyry ; and, a victim to parental aifection, was whip- 

 ped dov/n by the twigs, and brought lifeless to the ground. 



The young, at first more white than black, are fed by 

 food previously prepared in the craw of the mother, and 

 then disgorged by the bill, nearly in the manner of pi- 

 geons. The male, at this time, doubly vigilant and in- 

 dustrious, not only provides for, but defends his family 

 vigorously from every hostile attack, and shows a particu- 

 lar enmity to the Kite, when he appears in his neighbour- 

 hood, pouncing upon him and striking with his bill^ until 

 sometimes both antagonists descend to the ground. The 

 young are long and affectionately fed by the parents, and 

 though they soon leave the nest, they remain, perching 

 on the neighbouring rocks, yet unable to make any ex- 

 tensive flight, and pass the time in continual complaining 

 cries, till the approach of the parent with food, when their 

 note changes into crmv, craio, craw. Now and then, as 

 they gain strength, they make efforts to fly, and then re- 

 turn to their rocky roost. About 15 days after leaving the 

 nest, they become so well prepared for flight as to accom- 

 pany the parents out on their excursions from morning to 

 night ; and it is amusing to watch the progress of this af- 

 fectionate association, the young continuing the whole 

 summer to go out with the old in the morning, and as 

 regularly return with them again in the evening, so that 

 however we may despise the appetite of the Raven, we 

 cannot but admire the instinctive morality of his nature. 



Like birds of prey, the Ravens reject from the stomach, 

 by the bill, the hard and indigestible parts of their food, 

 as the stones of fruit, and the bones of small fish which 

 they sometimes eat. 



