RAVEN. 119 



The' food of this species is dead animal matter of all kinds, not ex- 

 cepting the most putrid carrion, which it devours in common with the 

 Vultures ; worms, grubs, reptiles and shell-fish, the last of which, in the 

 manner of the Crow, it drops from a considerable height in the air, on 

 the rocks, in order to break the shells ; it is fond of birds' eggs, and is 

 often observed sneaking around the farm-house, in search of the eggs of 

 the domestic poultry, which it sucks Mth eagerness ; it is likewise 

 charged with destroying young ducks and chickens, and lambs which 

 have been yeaned in a sickly state. The Raven, it is said, follows the 

 hunters of deer, for the purpose of falling heir to the offal ;* and tiie 

 huntsmen are obliged to cover their game, when it is left in the woods, 

 with their hunting frocks, to protect it from this thievish connoisseur, 

 who, if he have an opportunity, will attack the region of the kidneys, 

 and mangle the saddle without ceremony. 



Buffon says that " the Raven plueJcs out the et/es of Buffaloes, and 

 then, fixing on the back, it tears off the flesh deliberately ; and what 

 renders the ferocity more detestable, it is not incited by the cravings of 

 hunger, but by the appetite for carnage ; for it can subsist on fruits, 

 seed of all kinds, and indeed may be considered as an omnivorous ani- 

 mal." This is mere fable, and of a piece with many other absurdities of 

 the same agreeable, but fanciful author. 



This species is found almost all over the habitable globe. We trace it 

 in the north from Norway to Greenland, and hear of it in Kamtschatka. 

 It is common everywhere in Russia and Siberia, except within the Arctic 

 circle ;t and all through Europe. Kolben enumerates the Raven 

 among the birds of the Cape of Good Hope ;% De Grandpr^ represents 

 it as numerous in Bengal, where they are said to be protected for their 

 usefulness ;§ and the unfortunate La P^rouse saw them at Baie de 

 Chastries, on the east coast of Tartary ; likewise at Port des Francois ; 

 58° 37' north latitude, and 139° 50' west longitude ; antL at Monterey 

 Bay, North California. || The English circumnavigators met with them 

 at Nootka Sound ;T[ and at the Sandwich Islands, two being seen in the 

 village of Kakooa ; also at Owhyhee, and supposed to be adored there, 

 as they were called Eatoos.** Our intrepid American travellers, under 

 the command of Lewis and Clark, shortly after they embarked on the 

 river Columbia, saw abundance of iiavens, which were attracted thither 



* This is the case in those parts of the United States where the deer are hunted 

 without dogs : where these are employed, they are generally rewarded with the 

 offal. 



t Latham. J Medley's Kolben, vol. ii., p. 136. 



§ Voy. in the Indian Ocean, p. 14S. 



II Voy. par I, F. G. De la Perouse, ii., p. 129, 203, 443. 



i Cook's last Voy. ii., p. 230. Am. ed. ** Idem, iii., p. 329. 



