80 THE EAVEN. 



movements being directed in a great measure by those of the 

 herds of rein-deer, musk-oxen, and bisons, which it follows, ready 

 to assist in devouring such as are killed by beasts of prey, or by 

 accident. No sooner has a hunter slaughtered an animal than 

 these birds are seen coming from various quarters to feast on the 

 offal; and considerable numbers constantly attend the fishing 

 stations, where they show equal boldness and rapacity." In 

 allusion to the power which this bird possesses of imitating the 

 human voice, the author last quoted relates an instance of one 

 he knew at Chatham, which, living in the vicinity of the guard- 

 house, " more than once turned out the guard, who thought they 

 were called by the sentinel on duty." 



According to AUDUBON, in the United States " the Raven is 

 in some degree a migratory bird, individuals retiring to the ex- 

 treme south during severe winters, but returning to the middle, 

 the western, and southern districts at the first indications of 

 milder weather." 



WILSON characterises as " mere fable" the account given by 

 BUFFON, who says " The Haven plucks out the eyes of buffaloes, 

 and then fixing on the back, it tears off the flesh deliberately ; 

 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 to be an omnivorous animal." 



GILBERT WHITE has noticed a peculiarity in the habits of the 

 Eaven, which he says " must draw the attention of even the most 

 incurious," although we do not recollect to have seen it alluded 

 to elsewhere. " They spend their leisure time in striking and 

 miffing each other on the wing in a kind of playful skirmish ; and 

 when they move from one place to another, frequently turn on 

 their backs with a loud croak, and seem to be falling to the 

 ground. When this odd gesture betides them they are scratch- 

 ing themselves with one foot, and thus lose the centre of gravity." 

 Much more might be written about this grave, and, in the eyes 

 of many, even of the present day, preternaturally cunning bird, 

 the feathered soothsayer of the Greeks and Romans, the oracular 

 voice of the future to the Scandinavian nations, the harbinger of 

 evil and of death, the bird of night and of witchcraft, the grim 

 watcher by the gibbet, where swing the bones of the murderer, 

 that amid the pauses of the night wind, as it howls and whistles 

 over the lonely moor, croaks ominous, and, as MALONE says in 

 The Jew of -Malta, 



" Doth shake contagion from his sable wings." 



