232 RAVEN. 



sionally met with in the British Islands and elsewhere, are there 

 rather frequent. In Iceland and Scandinavia the bird sacred to 

 Odin is abundant, and, as a straggler it has been observed in 

 Spitsbergen ; while southward, it is distributed all over Europe, 

 especially in the wooded and mountainous districts, and along the 

 sea-coast. It inhabits the northern half of Asia down to the Hima- 

 layas ; but in Palestine and North-eastern Africa it is represented 

 by the smaller Brown-necked Raven, C. umbrinus, and also by 

 C. affinis, which has the nasal bristles pointed upwards, and very 

 long secondaries ; while North-western Africa, the Canaries and 

 Madeira, are inhabited by another small species, C. tingitanus. In 

 America the Raven is found across the continent from the Pacific 

 to Greenland, and southward to Guatemala, but it is local and not 

 common to the east of the Mississippi. 



The nest, often built or repaired towards the end of February, 

 though later on the fells, is generally a bulky structure when placed 

 in a crag, but when in trees is, according to my experience, smaller 

 and more compact. The foundation is a mass of sticks, stems of 

 heather &c., while the lining is of wool, rabbit's-fur, deer's-hair and 

 other soft substances. The eggs, 3-5, rarely 7 in number, are bluish- 

 green, flecked with olive-brown, sometimes sparingly, but at other 

 times so thickly as to produce an almost uniform ash-brown appear- 

 ance ; exceptionally they are reddish-white, blotched with rufous- 

 brown : average measurements i'9 by 1-32 in. In the south of Spain 

 the Raven has eggs in April, but there perhaps it breeds twice in the 

 year. In defence of its nest ii is very bold, attacking even an Eagle; 

 while its harsh, defiant, barking whorv, whow, when once heard, will 

 never be forgotten. It has, however, softer and more musical notes, 

 generally uttered early in the year, while the bird is performing aerial 

 evolutions and frequent somersaults; and its imitative and linguistic 

 powers in confinement are well known. There is a bold sweep in its 

 flight unrivalled by that of any other Corvine bird. In its food it is 

 omnivorous ; and where its depredations among lambs, weakly ewes 

 and game are, naturally, resented, it is shy and difficult of approach ; 

 but in other parts it is very tame, and in Majorca I have seen pairs 

 following the peasants closely when ploughing the ground under the 

 olive-trees, just like Rooks. It is a great destroyer of rats. 



The plumage of the adult is black, glossed with purplish-blue 

 on the upper parts and the acuminate feathers of the throat ; tail 

 slightly rounded ; bill, legs and feet black. Length about 25 in. ; 

 wing 17 in. The female is slightly smaller than the male, and her 

 plumage, like that of the young, is less lustrous. 



