i66 THE BOOK OF BIRDS 



blinded before they could hurry up and drive the marauder 

 away. 



The Raven is found " all over the world " — or nearly so. 

 His range includes the whole of Europe, and the northern 

 half of Asia ; and in America he is found, or used to be 

 found, from Guatemala northward to the dreary realm of 

 the Ice King. There are also three sorts of Ravens in the 

 continent of Africa. 



It is chiefly in northern Europe that we find queer folk- 

 lore fancies gathering about the Raven. " In Sweden, the 

 country people believe that the Ravens which croak by 

 night in the forest swamps and wild moorlands are the 

 ghosts of murdered persons, whose bodies have been con- 

 cealed there by their undetected murderers, and have not 

 received Christian burial. In some parts of Germany 

 witches, it is believed, ride astride upon the Raven, and the 

 Evil One himself takes on the form of this bird." 



Among the Redskins of North America the Raven is 

 put to weird uses. The medicine-man, when he affects to 

 be peering into the future, is said to carry on his back 

 three Raven skins "with their tails fixed at right angles 

 to his body, while, on his head, he wears a split Raven skin, 

 so fastened as to let the huge and formidable beak project 

 from the forehead." 



Despite his being black, and belonging to a black family 

 (for he is the biggest and most important member of the 

 great clan which includes the crows and the rooks), the 

 Raven is really a very handsome as well as a very dignified 

 and stately bird. 



His feet and his beak are black, as, too, is the whole of 

 his plumage ; but the upper parts and the breast are 

 beautifully glossy, and in a good light you may notice that 

 these have a bright purple sheen, or it may be steel blue or 



