RAVEN-HILL 



RAVENNA 



Raven, a bird o! 

 the crow family 



common throughout Great Britain, 

 but is now found only in mountain- 

 ous and secluded districts, more 

 especially about the N. shores of 

 Scotland and in the Western is- 

 lands. A few pairs still breed on 

 the rocky coasts of S.W. England 

 and in Wales. It is a powerful bird 

 on the wing and soars high in the 

 air, but it rises from the ground in 

 a very slow and flapping fashion. 

 It begins nest-building in Janu- 

 ary, choosing for the site a ledge on 

 some inaccessible cliff, though occa- 

 sionally the nest has been found 

 in a tree. The same nest is used 

 year after year, and the birds pair 

 for life. The raven is omnivorous 

 in diet, and all kinds of animal 

 food, eggs, fruit, 

 grain, insects, 

 and grubs are 

 readily de- 

 voured. Small 

 lambs and rab- 

 bits are some- 

 times attacked 

 and eaten, but 

 usually only 

 sickly or inj ured 

 animals are 

 chosen. In 

 captivity the raven makes an 

 intelligent, amusing, but very 

 mischievous pet. See Eggs, colour 

 plate. 



Raven-Hill, LEONAKD (b. 1867). 

 British artist. Born March 10, 

 1867, and educated at Bristol and 

 Devon Co. School, he studied at 

 Lambeth school of art, and in Paris 

 under Bouguereau. After painting 

 and exhibiting at the Salon and 

 Royal Academy 

 for some years, 

 he founded the il- 

 lustrated Butter- 

 fly, 1893, and in 

 1896 began to 

 draw cartoons for 

 Punch. 



Ravenna. Pro v. 

 of N.E. Italy, in 

 Emilia, and 

 bordering on the 

 Adriatic Sea. A 

 fertile plain, it 

 is low-lying in the 

 coastal district, 

 and marshy in 

 the N. Well 

 watered by 

 streams flowing 

 from the Apen- 

 nines and inter- 

 sected by canals, 

 it produces rice, 

 hemp, cereals, 

 oil, wine, and 

 chestnuts. The 

 manufactures in- 

 clude faience 

 ware, glass, 

 paper, silk, linen, 



and leather 

 articles. Its 

 area is 715 

 sq. m. Pop. 

 256,000. 



Ravenna. 

 City of Italy, 

 capital of 

 the prov. of 

 Ravenna. It 

 stands in a 

 marshy plain, 

 between the 



Ravenna, Italy. Basilica of S. Apollinare in Classe. with 

 campanile ; top, right, cathedral, and, right, baptistery 



rivers Fiumi Uniti and La- 

 mone, 6 m. from the Adriatic, 44 

 m. by rly. E.S.E. of Bologna. It is 

 still surrounded by old walls, which 

 were once washed by the waters of 

 the Adriatic. Of very ancient ori- 

 gin, it is second only to Rome in 

 the importance of its early Chris- 

 tian art, and for 350 years was 

 virtually the capital of Italy. Its 

 archbishopric was founded in 493, 



First Burglar : " Who are yer a-shovin' of ? " 

 Second Burglar: " Who's a-shovin' ? I've got as much 

 right to be 'ere as you "ave." Pick-Me-Up 



Leonard Raven-Hill. Example of his line-work 



and its cathe- 

 dral dates from 

 the 4th cen- 

 tury. Other 

 old churches 

 are those of 

 S. Giovanni 

 Evangelist a, 

 dating from 

 425; SanVitale 

 from 520; S. 

 Apollinare i n 

 Classe from 

 535; S. Apol- 

 linare Nuovo 



from 500 ; the Mausoleum of Galla 

 Placidia . from 440, notable for its 

 mosaics ; the Orthodox Baptistery 

 from 450, etc. The old city castle, 

 partly demolished in 1735, is in 

 the N.E. quarter. 



Of its important Roman struc- 

 tures nothing now lies above 

 ground. Deserted by the sea and 

 shrunken from its former greatness, 

 Ravenna contains a museum of Ro- 

 man and Byzan- 

 tine antiquities, 

 the tomb of Dante, 

 and a valuable 

 library. M a n u- 

 factures include 

 musical instru- 

 ments, silk, lace, 

 glass, -and wine. 



A famous for- 

 tress, protected by 

 marshes, Honorius 

 sought refuge in 

 Ravenna from 404. 

 Odoacer held it for 

 three years against 

 Theodoric, and hi 

 539 it was once 

 more captured by 

 Belisarius. Rav- 

 enna was the seat 

 of the exarch of the 

 Eastern Emperor 

 until 752. Later it 

 was held by Venice 

 and the Popes, remaining under 

 the sway of the latter until 1859, 

 when it became Italian. Near 

 the town is an obelisk erected 

 to the memory of Gaston de 

 Foix, who fell in battle here 



