THE RAVEN. 23 



The food of the Raven baffles description. It indis- 

 criminately eats everything that may come in its way. 

 Carrion of all kinds, small animals, birds and their eggs or 

 young, insects, and even reptiles, form the principal 

 food, but corn and grain sometimes receive the attention 

 of this omnivorous bird. Ravens living near the sea will 

 diligently search the shores for any food, either fish or 

 flesh, that may have been cast up by the waves and left 

 upon the beach by the receding tide. They are tremendously 

 voracious, and after having gorged themselves will retire 

 to a place of safety to digest the food, and will then 

 return again to their horrid feast. 



The difference between the sexes is very difficult to 

 determine, inasmuch as their plumage is of a uniform 

 black, which, at certain seasons particularly, is tinted with 

 a glossy shade of purple, that makes the jet-black 

 plumage of this sable bird a household word. However, 

 not alone the feathers of the Raven, but also the beak, 

 mouth, tongue, legs, and feet also partake of the same 

 black hue. The beak is curved towards the point, and 

 over the base are a number of coarse bristles, inclining 

 forwards. Ravens live to a great age, instances having 

 been recorded of the attainment of half a century, and in 

 confinement have been known to live for several decades. 



Ravens generally build their nests in the crevices of a 

 chalk or other cliff, or the highest forks of tall trees, or such- 

 like places of security. The structure is composed of twigs, 

 wool, and horsehair, and the eggs are four or five in 

 number, of a pale green-ground colour, spotted and 

 speckled with a darker greenish-brown. The female sits 

 for twenty days, the male feeding her the while, and 

 sometimes relieving her in the duties of incubation. 



