113 



RAVEN. 



COEVUS CORAX. 

 [Plate LXXV.— Fig. 3.] 



i^URT. Syst. I, 218. — Koiy, Faun. Stiec. JN'o. 85. Faun. Grcenl. p. 62. — Leems, 240. — Le CorleaUf 

 De Buff. V, 16. Fl. enl. Jfo. 495.— Briss. II, 8.— Penn. Br. Zool. I, JVo. 74. Jlrd. Zool. 



J\^o. 134. — ^Lath. I, 367. — ^Bewick, I, 100 Raii, Syn. p. 39. — Wixx. Orn. p. 121, pi. 18.— 



Albin, II, pi. 20. — Cormis carmrcorus, Bartram, jp. 290. — ^Peaie's Museum, J\*o. 175. 



A KNOWLEDGE of this celebrated bird has been handed 

 down to us from the earliest ages ; and its history is almost coe- 

 val with that of man. In the best and most ancient of all books, 

 we learn that at the end of forty days after the great flood had 

 covered the earth, Noah, wishing to ascertain whether or no the 

 waters had abated, sent forth a Raven, which did not return into 

 the ark.* This is the first notice that is taken of this species. 

 Though the Raven was declared unclean by the law of Moses, yet 

 we are informed that when the prophet Elijah provoked the en- 

 mity of Ahab, by prophesying against him, and hid himself by 

 the brook Cherith, the Ravens were appointed by Heaven to bring 

 him his daily food.t The color of the Raven has given rise to a 

 similitude in one of the most beautiful of eclogues, which has been 

 perpetuated in all subsequent ages, and which is not less pleasing 

 for being trite or proverbial. The favorite of the royal lover of 

 Jerusalem, in the enthusiasm of affection, thus describes the object 

 of her adoration, in reply to the following question : 



What is thy beloved more than another beloved, 

 O thou fairest among women 



^ Genesis, viii, 7. 



VOL. IX. 



f 1 Kings, xvii, 5,^ 6, 

 F f 



