3^8 CLASS AVES. 



these birds, we find that when they take grain, they break it, 

 by means of the bill or feet, before they swallow it. 



Carrion and putrid animal matter, which they can smell at 

 great distance, form the basis of the food of these birds ; when 

 such, however, is not forthcoming, they live on fruits, grains, 

 insects, dead fish, and molluscous animals, whose shells they 

 break against stones. It is said that they will at times attack 

 living animals, as rats, partridges, frogs, &c., and that falling 

 on the back of the larger sort, as asses, buffaloes, &c., will 

 seriously injure them by repeated strokes with the bill. The 

 fetid nature of their food renders these birds unfit for the 

 table. They were unclean to the Jews, and are generally 

 considered in a similar light by most savage nations. 



Ravens, when threatened or attacked, fear neither cats nor 

 dogs ; and render themselves formidable, not merely to chil- 

 dren, but even to men, whose legs they will peck at, and 

 wound with some effect. Notwithstanding their courage, 

 however, they may be brought to associate with man, and 

 they have been employed for purposes of falconry. 



They are also greatly attached to one another, and live in 

 general in pairs, each pair remaining connected for several 

 years, probably for the whole period of their lives. They 

 make their nests in the crevices of rocks, in holes towards 

 the tops of deserted towers, and sometimes on the summit of 

 an isolated tree. This nest, which is very large, is composed 

 exteriorly of branches and roots; bones of quadrupeds, or 

 fragments of hard substances, form the second coat, and the 

 interior is lined with moss, &c. The female lays, about the 

 month of March, five or six pale greenish and bluish eggs, 

 lined and spotted with a neutral tint ; both the male and 

 female sit, and the incubation lasts about twenty days. There 

 may be generally found in the vicinity of these nests a consi- 

 derable accumulation of grains, nuts, fruits, and other things, 

 though it appears these hoards are made rather by the blind 



