ITS FOOD 93 



him by the Teutonic and Scandinavian nations, 

 among whom he was best known and most honoured, 

 though they are said by Professor Skeat to be 

 derived from a root "krap," Latin "crepare," " to 

 make a sound/' are not specially imitative of any 

 one of the many remarkable sounds he makes. 

 Such are the Anglo-Saxon "hraefu" or "hrefu," 

 the Icelandic "hrafu," the Old High German 

 "hraban," the Dutch " raaf," the Danish "ravn," 

 the German "rabe," the English " raven," and, 

 perhaps, " Ralph." I only note the fact ; I cannot 

 offer any explanation of it. 



What about the food of the raven ? a some- 

 what unsavoury but interesting part of the subject, 

 and highly illustrative of his strength, his sagacity, 

 his adaptability to circumstances. Like most of his 

 tribe, the raven is, in the strictest sense of the word, 

 omnivorous. His dietary ranges from a worm to 

 a whale. During certain months of the year, he 

 feeds largely on grubs and insects, and then he does 

 unmixed good. Sometimes, he takes to berries, 

 fruits, and grain. Snakes and frogs and moles 

 never come amiss to him. Of rats he is passion- 

 ately fond ; and when, after the threshing of a rick, 

 the usual massacre of rats has taken place, the 

 raven, if they are within the wide range of his scent 



