RAVEN, 675 
The ferocious wile of Macbeth, on being advisec pf the approach 
of Duncan, whose death she had conspired, thus excla ms : — 
“The Raven himself is hoar, e, 
That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan 
Under my battlements.? * 
The Moor of Venice says, — 
“Tt comes o’er my memory, 
As doth the Raven o’er the jalected house, 
Boding to all.” + 
The last quotation alludes to the supposed habit of this bird’s flying 
over those houses which contain the sick, whose dissolution is at hand, 
and thereby announced. Thus Marlowe, in the Jew of Malta, as cited 
by Malone : — 
“The sad presaging Raven tolls 
The sick man’s passport in her hollow beak 5 
And, in the shadow of the silent night, 
Doth shake contagion from her sable wing.” 
. But it is the province of philosophy to dispel these illusions, which 
bewilder the mind, by pointing out the simple truths, which nature 
has been at. no pains to conceal, but which the folly of mankind has 
Shrouded in all the obscurity of mystery. 
The Raven is a general inhabitant of the United States, but is more 
common in the interior. On the lakes, and particularly in the neigh- 
borhood of the Falls of the Niagara River, they are numerous ; and it 
is a remarkable fact, that where they so abound, the Common Crow 
(C. corone) seldom makes its appearance; being intimidated, it is con- 
jectured, by the superior size and strength of the former, or by an an- 
tipathy which the two species manifest towards each other. This I had 
an opportunity of observing myself, in a journey during the months of 
August and September, along the lakes Erie and Ontario. The Ra- 
vens were seen every day, prowling about in search of the dead fish, 
which the waves are continually casting ashore, and which afford them” 
an abundance of a favorite food; but I did not see or heara single 
Crow within several miles of the lakes, and but very few through the 
whole of the Genesee country. 
The food of this species is dead animal matter of all kinds, not ex- 
cepting the most putrid carrion, which it devours in common with the 
Vultures ; worms, grubs, reptiles, and shell fish, the last of which, in 
the manner of the Crow, it drops froma considerable height in the 
air, on the rocks, in order to break the shells; it is fond of bird’s eges, 
and is often observed sneaking around the farm-house in search of the 
eggs of the domestic poultry, which it sucks with eagerness; it is 
likewise charged with destroying young Ducks and Chickens, and 
lambs which have been yeaned in a sickly state. The Raven, it is 
said, follows the hunters of deer for the purpose of falling heir to the 
* Macbeth, Act i. scene 5. 
+ Othello, Act. iv. scene 1. 
