70 CORVID.E. 



whole plumage black glossed with steel-blue, and purple ; 

 the feathers on the throat elongated and pointed, and ex- 

 hibiting more metallic lustre than those of other parts. 

 Legs, toes, and claws, shining black ; the legs and toes 

 strong; the claws considerably curved. 



The whole length of a male bird is twenty-six inches. 

 The wing, from the carpal joint to the end, seventeen inches 

 and one quarter : the first feather four inches shorter than 

 the second ; the second one inch shorter than the third ; 

 the fourth a little longer than the third, and the longest in 

 the wing : the primaries are narrow and pointed, the tertials 

 broad and rounded. The tail in form rather more than 

 rounded, or slightly angular, the pair of feathers in the 

 middle being the longest. 



The female is smaller than the male ; and her plumage, 

 as also that of young birds before their first moult, has less 

 metallic lustre. 



Mr. Macgillivray, in his volumes on British Birds, men- 

 tions that he " once saw a Raven in Harris, one of the 

 outer Hebrides, that was patched with white. Another 

 entirely white, was credibly reported to him to have been 

 seen in the Island of Pabbay." The first of these was 

 considered to be identical with the Pied Raven of the 

 Faroe Islands, the Corvus leucophveus of authors, but it is 

 considered doubtful whether this Pied Raven is entitled 

 to rank as a species. According to ancient authors, Ravens 

 were formerly white, but were changed to black for bab- 

 bling. Mr. John Barrow, in his Visit to Iceland, says, 

 " This bird was dedicated to Odin, who, as the traditional 

 history of Iceland informs us, had two Ravens, which were 

 let loose every morning to collect intelligence of what was 

 going on in the world, and which, on returning in the 

 evening, perched upon Odin's shoulders, to whisper in his 

 ear whatever information they might have collected ; and 



