RAVEN. 9 



The flesh of this bird is tough and unfit for food, but this indicates 

 its great strength. When wounded, it bites severely, and scratches with 

 its claws as fiercely as a Hawk. Like the latter also, it disgorges indi- 

 gestible substances, as bones, hair, and feathers. 



I have represented a very old male Raven on a branch of the Shell- 

 bark Hickory ; not because the bird alights on any particular kind of 

 tree by preference, but because I thought you might be interested in see- 

 ins so fruitful a branch of that valuable ornament of our forests. 



CoHvus CoRAX, Linn. Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 155 — Lath. Ind. Ornith. vol. i. p. 150 — 

 Ch. Bonaparte, Synops. of Birds of the United States, p. 56 — Swains, and Richards. 

 Fauna Boreali-Americ. part ii. p. 290 — Lath. Gen. Synops. vol. i. p. 367. 



E.AVEN, Wils. Amer. Ornith. vol. ix. p. 113, pi. 75, fig. 3. — Nuttall, Manual, part i, 

 p. 202. 



Old Male. Plate CI. 



Bill longish, thick, robust, somewhat compressed ; upper mandible 

 with the dorsal line arched and declinate, the sides convex ; lower man- 

 dible straight, the sides inclined obliquely outwards ; the edges of both 

 sharp, the tip slightly deflected. Nostrils basal, lateral, round, covered 

 by bristly feathers, which are directed forwards. Head large, neck short, 

 body robust. Legs of moderate length, strong ; tarsus covered anteriorly 

 with scutella, shorter than the middle toe ; toes scutellate above, separated 

 almost to the base ; first, second, and fourth primaries nearly equal in 

 length, third longest ; claws moderate, arched, acute, compressed, chan- 

 nelled beneath. 



Plumage compact, highly glossed. Stiff, bristly feathers, with dis- 

 united barbs over the nostrils, directed forwards and adpressed. Feathers 

 of the hind neck with disunited barbs, of the fore part of the neck elon- 

 gated, lanceolatedj'and pointed. Wings long, first primary short, fourth 

 longest ; primaries tapering, the third, fourth, and fifth, cut out towards 

 the end externally ; secondaries very broad, the outer abrupt with a minute 

 acumen, the inner rounded. Tail rather long, rounded, of twelve slightly 

 recurved feathers. 



Beak, tarsi, toes and claws, deep black and shining. Iris brown. The 

 general colour of the plumage is deep black, with purple reflections above, 

 greenish below. Tints of green on the back, quills, and tail. Breast and 

 belly browned, with green reflections, and a slight mixture of purple tints. 



