148 RAVEN. 
about in search of the dead fish which the waves are continu- 
ally casting ashore, and which afford them an abundance of a 
favourite food ; but I did not see or hear a single crow within 
several miles of the lakes, and but very few throngh the whole 
of the Genesee country. 
The food of this species is dead animal matter of all kinds, 
not excepting 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 
from a considerable height in the air on the rocks, in order 
to break the shells ; it is fond of birds’ eggs, and is often ob- 
served sneaking around the farmhouse in search of the eggs of 
the domestic poultry, which it sucks with eagerness ; it 1s like- 
wise 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 offal ;* and the huntsmen are obliged to cover 
their game, when it is left in the woods, with their hunting 
frocks, to protect it from this thievish connoisseur, who, if he 
have an opportunity, will attack the region of the kidneys, 
and mangle the saddle without ceremony. 
Buffon says that “ the raven plucks out the eyes of buffaloes, 
and then, fixing on the back, it tears off the flesh deliberately ; 
and what renders the ferocity more detestable, it is not incited 
by the cravings of hunger, but by the appetite for carnage ; 
for it can subsist on fruits, seeds of all kinds, and indeed may 
be considered as an omnivorous animal.” ‘This is mere fable, 
and of a piece with many other absurdities of the same roman- 
cing author. 
This species is found almost all over the habitable globe. 
We trace it in the north from Norway to Greenland, and hear 
of it in Kamtschatka. It is common everywhere in Russia 
* This is the case in those parts of the United States where the deer 
are hunted without dogs ; where these are employed, they are generally 
rewarded with the offal. 
