92 



HISTORY OF BIRDS. 



feathered creation. It will be proper, there- 

 fore, to describe these two sorts according to their 

 respective appetites, as they have nothing in 

 common but the very strong similitude they 

 bear to each other in their colour and forma- 

 tion. 



The raven is a bird found in every region 

 of the world ; strong and hardy, he is unin- 

 fluenced by the changes of the weather; and 

 when other birds seem numbed with cold, or 

 pining with famine, the raven is active and 

 healthy, busily employed in prowling for prey, 

 or sporting in the coldest atmosphere. As the 

 heats at the line do not oppress him, so he 

 bears the cold of the polar countries with equal 

 indifference. He is sometimes indeed seen 

 milk white; and this may probably be the 

 effect of the rigorous climates of the north. It 

 is most likely that this change is wrought 

 upon him as upon most other animals in that 

 part of the world, where their robes, particu- 

 larly in winter, assume the colour of the 

 country they inhabit. As in old age, when 

 the natural heat decays, the hair grows gray, 

 and at last white ; so among these animals the 

 cold of the climate may produce a similar 

 languishment of colour, and may shut up those 

 pores that conveyed the tincturing fluids to 

 the extremest parts of the body. 



However this may be, white ravens are 

 often shown among us, which I have heard 

 some say, are rendered thus by art ; and this 

 we could readily suppose, if they were as easily 

 changed in their colour, as they are altered in 

 their habits and dispositions. A raven may 

 be reclaimed to almost every purpose to which 

 birds can be converted. He may be trained 

 up for fowling like a hawk ; he maybe taught 

 to fetch and carry like a spaniel ; he may be 

 taught to speak like a parrot ; but the most 

 extraordinary of all is, that he can be taught 

 to sing like a man. I have heard a raven 

 sing the Black Joke with great distinctness, 

 truth, and humour. 



Indeed, when the raven is taken as a do- 

 mestic, he has many qualities that render him 

 extremely amusing. Busy, inquisitive, and 

 impudent, he goes every where ; affronts and 

 drives off the dogs, plays his pranks on the 

 poultry, and is particularly assiduous in cul- 



cious than these birds, and on obtaining a morsel, rather 

 than eat it at once, usually fly off with it to some more 

 secure place. 



The jackdaw is generally distributed in England and 

 Scotland, although there are large tracts, the outer He- 

 brides for example, in which it does not occur. It is 

 represented as inhabiting most parts of the continent, 

 but has not been found in America. 



Several species of the genus are very nearly allied to 

 it, particularly Corvus bengalensis. Taking European 

 b:rds only into consideration, it forms the transition to 

 the magpie. Abridged from MucgiU'tvray' s fffttorv of 

 British Birds. 



tivating the good will of the cook-maid, who 

 seetns to be the favourite of the family. Hut 

 then, with the amusing qualities of a favourite, 

 he often also has the vices and defects. He is 

 a glutton by nature, and a thief by habit. He 

 does not confine himself to petty depredations 

 on the pantry or the larder ; he soars at more 

 magnificent plunder ; at spoils that he can 

 neither exhibit nor enjoy ; but which, like a 

 miser, he rests satisfied with having the satis- 

 faction of sometimes visiting and contemplat- 

 ing in secret. A piece of money, a tea-spoon, 

 or a ring, are always tempting baits to his 

 avarice ; these he will slily seize upon, and, if 

 not watched, will carry to his favourite hole. 



In his wild state, the raven is an active and 

 greedy plunderer. Nothing comes amiss to 

 him ; whether his prey be living or long dead 

 it is all the same, he falls to with a voracious 

 appetite ; and, when he has gorged himself, flies 

 to acquaint his fellows, that they may par- 

 ticipate of the spoil. If the carcase be already 

 in the possession of some more powerful ani- 

 mal, a wolf, a fox, or a dog, the raven sits at a 

 little distance, content to continue an humble 

 spectator till they have done. If in his flights 

 he perceives no hopes of carrion, and his scent 

 is so exquisite that he can smell it at a vast 

 distance, he then contents himself with more 

 unsavoury food, fruits, insects, and the acci- 

 dental dessert of a dunghill. 



This bird chiefly builds its nests in trees, 

 and lays five or six eggs, of a pale green colour, 

 marked with small brownish spots. They 

 live sometimes in pairs, and sometimes they 

 frequent, in great numbers, the neighbourhood 

 of populous cities, where they are useful in 

 devouring those carcases that would otherwise 

 putrefy and infect the air. They build in 

 high trees or old towers, in the beginning of 

 March with us in England, and sometimes 

 sooner, as the spring is more or less advanced 

 for the season. But it is not always near 

 towns that they fix their retreats ; they often 

 build in unfrequented places, and drive all 

 other birds from their vicinity. They will 

 not permit even their young to keep in the 

 same district, but drive them off when they 

 are sufficiently able to shift for themselves. 

 Martin, in his description of the Western 

 Isles, avers, that there are three little islands 

 among the number, which are occupied by a 

 pair of ravens each, that drive off all other 

 birds with great cries and impetuosity. 



Notwithstanding the injury these birds do 

 in picking out the eyes of sheep and lambs, 

 when they find them sick and helpless, a vulgar 

 respect is paid them, as being the birds that 

 fed the prophet Elijah in the wilderness. This 

 prepossession in favour of the raven is of 

 very ancient date, as the Romans themselves, 

 who thought the bird ominous, paid it, from 



