188 
DICTIONARY OF NAMES OF BRITISH BIRDS. 
the word raven, to plunder or devour voraciously. The name 
appears in Turner (1544), also Merrett and all later writers. 
Turner states that “in places with less space, and where 
there is not room for many, Ravens dwell only in pairs, 
and, when their young have just gained power of flight, 
the parents first banish them from the nest, and later 
drive them out of the whole neighbourhood.” Willughby 
states, on hearsay, that the Raven was formerly capable 
of being “reclaimed and trained up for fowling after the 
manner of a hawk.” Kay, or Caius, also says that he saw 
in the year 1548, two white ravens from the same nest in 
Cumberland, which were trained for bird-catching just like 
hawks. The Raven was a sacred bird of the Druids. 
O’Curry (‘‘Manners and Customs of Ancient Irish ”’) has 
found that it was domesticated on account of the auguries to 
be obtained from its croakings. The same belief in its gift 
of prophecy prevails among the Icelanders. It is also 
well known as an old Anglo-Saxon emblem. The Raven 
is a familiar bird in the Norse mythology, as Woden’s bird: 
two Ravens, one black and one white, sit upon his shoulders 
and tell him all that passes in the world below. In the 
Welsh “‘ Mabinogion”’ the hero Owein, son of Urien, is 
accompanied by an army of Ravens, which attack his 
enemies. In the Irish legend also Cuchullaind had two 
magic Ravens which announced to him the coming of his 
foes. It was by the means of this bird that Flokki, in the 
Norse saga, discovered Iceland. There is a belief among 
the Cornish fishermen that King Arthur is still living in 
the form of a Raven, changed by magic into that shape, 
and that he willsome day resume his own form (‘‘ Notes and 
Queries,” ser. 1, viii). Hawker (‘‘ Echoes from Cornwall ’’) 
has, however, fastened the same belief upon the Chough. 
An ancient superstition was that the Raven neglected her 
young after they were hatched. According to Glanville 
(‘« De Proprietatibus Rerum,” 1483) the young are fed with 
the “dew of heaven” until they are fledged and have 
black feathers. Izaak Walton says that the Raven “ leaves 
her young ones to the care of the God of nature, who is 
said in the Psalms (cxtvu, 9) to feed the young ravens 
that call upon Him; and they be kept alive and fed 
by a dew or worms that breed in their nests; or some 
other ways that we mortals know not.” Shakespeare 
(‘« Titus Andronicus,” act 1, sc. 3) alludes to this when he 
says :— 
Some say that ravens foster forlorn children, 
The whilst their own birds famish in their nests. 
