224 RAVKN. 



" the evil-boding crow" " infausta cornix" 

 found a place in many savage superstitions,* or 

 served as the emblem of bad fortune, in the tales 

 of the historian, or imagery of the poet. 



The Raven is a bird which prefers an alpine 

 range of country, though at the same time in 

 pursuit of food, or attracted by the presence of 

 carrion, it often frequents the cultivated districts. 

 and even the vicinity of towns. In Britain it i,* 

 pretty generally distributed ; towards the south, 

 however, becoming more local, and frequenting 

 either the mountainous parts, the rugged mari- 

 time promontories, or some of the extensive and 

 wild chases, abounding with aged timber ; to the 

 north it increases in numbers, and frequents 

 similar situations, and in the same direction 

 across the Firth of Forth it may be accounted 3 

 common bird. In Scotland, where this bird has 

 most frequently come under our observation, it is 

 spread over the immense tracts of wild wood and 

 rocky muir, where it finds secure retirements in 

 the breeding time, descending to the pastoral 

 walks in search for much of its food, and living 

 there, and in the lower country, during the seve- 

 rity of winter. Its favourite breeding haunts are 

 precipitous rocks, either on the coast or inland, 

 and there, on some projecting shelve or ledge, 



* On the contrary, " this bird is among the Ameri- 

 can savages an emblem of returning health : the physicians, 

 or rather magicians, when they visit a sick person, in- 

 voke the Raven, and imitate his croaking voice. "t 



| Adair, Hist, of Am. quoted from Penn. Arct. Zool. ii. p. 246. 



