THE RAVEN OF THE PAMPAS 



Sir Ralph the Raven has a wide domain. From 

 Greenland to Mexico, and from Iceland to North- 

 West India, he is to be found, black and black- 

 guardly everywhere ; and in those parts of the 

 world where he is not present in person, he 

 seems to have deputed his power to some mem- 

 ber of his family — such as the jungle-crow in 

 the Far East, and the white-eyed crow in Aus- 

 tralia. But there is one great continent where 

 neither raven nor crow, large or small, has a 

 footing, and that is South America. Jays there 

 are, wherever there is forest or woodland to 

 give their slinking, pilfering ways a chance ; but 

 the true crows, black and bold freebooters of 

 the open country, are nowhere found. 



Now, as South America presents an admirable 

 variety of climates and situations, to say nothing 

 of business opportunities in the way of carrion 

 and small weak forms of animal life, it would 

 seem that the only obstacle to corvine immigra- 

 tion there has been what scientists call the 

 organic barrier ; in other words, previous settlers 

 have "jumped the claim," vast as it is. 



For ordinary hawks — falcon, harrier, and buz- 

 8 4 



