168 RAVEN. 



not excepting the most putrid carrion, which it devours in com- 

 mon 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 sneak- 

 ing around the farm-house, in search of the eggs of the domestic 

 poultry, which it sucks with 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, fol- 

 lows the hunters of deer, for the purpose of falling heir to the 

 offal;* and the 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 plucks out the eyes of Buffa- 

 loes, and then, fixing on the, back, it tears off the flesh deli- 

 berately; 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 animal." 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 every where in Russia and 

 Siberia, except within the Arctic circle ;t and all through Eu- 

 rope. Kolben enumerates the Raven among the birds of the 

 Cape of Good Hope;:): De Grandpre represents it as numerous 

 in Bengal, where they are said to be protected for their useful- 

 ness ; and the unfortunate La Perouse saw them at Bale de 



* 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. 



f Latham. % Medley's Kolben, vol. ii, p. 136. 



Voy. in the Indian Ocean, p. 148. 



