RAVEN. 499 



on account of its habits, and its historical, superstitious, and eco- 

 nomical relations. With a grave and dignified air it combines 

 great sagacity, and in courage is not much inferior even to some 

 of the rapacious birds. 



Its body is of an ovate compact form, rather bulky, the neck 

 strong, and of moderate length ; the head large, oblong, con- 

 vex above. The bill is rather long, deep, and nearly straight ; 

 the upper mandible having the dorsal outline slightly arched, 

 towards the end declinate, the ridge obtuse, the sides convex, 

 at the base concave, the edges direct, sharp, nearly straight, 

 with a slight notch close to the declinate tip ; the lovrer man- 

 dible has the angle rather narrow^ but rounded, the dorsal lino 

 convex, the sides convex, and inclined obliquely upwards, the 

 edges sharp and slightly inflected, the tip rather acute. 



Internally the upper mandible is concave and longitudinally 

 grooved ; the lower deeply concave, with a prominent central 

 line. The palate is flat ; the posterior aperture of the nares 

 narrow ; the tongue oblong, horny, flat above, thin-edged, 

 emarginate and papillate at the base, slit at tlie point. The 

 oesophagus is wide, of nearly uniform diameter ; the proventri- 

 culus bulbiform, studded with oblong glandules ; the stomach 

 oblong-elliptical, compressed, moderately muscular, its cuticular 

 lining thin and longitudinally rugous ; the intestine much 

 wider along the extent of its first double fold, then continuing 

 of nearly uniform diameter as far as the adnate cylindrical coeea, 

 which are half an inch long ; the rectum much wider, gradu- 

 ally enlarged towards the ovate dilatation. In an individual 

 examined in May 1836, the tongue was an inch and four 

 twelfths long ; the oesophagus 7 ; the proventricular glandules 

 /j ; the intestine 46, its greatest diameter about j%, the smal- 

 lest /j ; the coeca i ; the rectum 1 j. 



The eyes are of moderate size, as are the external apertures 

 of the ears. The nostrils are also of moderate size, round, in 

 the fore part of the short nasal space, and concealed by the re- 

 versed stiff feathers which cover nearly half the length of the 

 mandible. 



The legs are of moderate length and ordinary strength ; the 

 tarsi are covered anteriorly with eight scutella, posteriorly 



Kk 2 



