204 CONIROSTKES. 



trees ; it is composed outwardly of sticks^ moss, and 

 small pieces of bark cemented togetlier with moist 

 eartli, and tlie interior is usually lined with horse- 

 hair and some wool, whereon the female deposits 

 four eggs. 



Of all birds, some members of the Crow family are 

 the most social ; for although numerous others live 

 in companionship the greatest part of the year, yet 

 when the period of incubation arrives, they generally 

 separate and disperse. With the Rooks, however, 

 the social principle is perfect, and they accordingly 

 form aerial villages, fabricated on the summits of 

 the loftiest trees, and rear their young in a perpetual 

 scene of bustle and excitement. Their attachment 

 to these spots is very remarkable, and has frequently 

 given rise to obstinate battles between the last pos- 

 sessors and a stranger flock that has attempted to 

 usurp the domain. 



The t}^e of the race — • 



The Raven {Corvus Coi'ax), is the largest and most 

 powerful of all the Corvidpe, the adult male measuring 

 about twenty inches in length. It has a long and strong 

 bill of a black coloui- ; the feathers springing from the base 

 of the upper mandible and covering the nostrils are about 

 an inch and a half long. This bird is found in all parts 

 of the Northern hemisphere, extending its range even 

 into the frozen regions of the Arctic zone. It is usually 

 an inhabitant of the wildest and most secluded districts, 

 haunting the rocks of the sea-coast or the sides of moun- 

 tains or forests, near extensive plains ; and from its 

 vigilance and sagacity, its destruction is by no means easy. 



