9 
RAVEN. 119 
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 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 observed sneaking around the farm-house, in search of the eggs of 
the domestic poultry, which it sucks with eagerness ; it is likewise 
charged Avith 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 ofi"al;* 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 2^^u<^ks oxit tlie 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, 
seed of all kinds, and indeed may be considered as an omnivorous ani- 
mal." This is mere fable, and of a piece with many other absurdities of 
the same agreeable, but fanciful 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 and Siberia, except within the Arctic 
circle ;f and all through Europe. Ivolben enumerates the Raven 
among the birds of the Cape of Good Hope ;J De Grandpre represents 
it as numerous in Bengal, where they are said to be protected for their 
usefulness ;§ and the unfortunate La Perouse saw them at Bale de 
Chastrics, on the east coast of Tartary ; likewise at Port des Francois ; 
58° 37' north latitude, and 139° 50' west longitude ; and at Monterey 
Bay, North California. || The English circumnavigators met with them 
at Nootka Sound ;f and at the Sandwich Islands, two being seen in the 
village of Kakooa ; also at Owhyhee, and supposed to be adored there, 
as they were called Eatoos.** Our intrepid American travellers, under 
the command of Lewis and Clark, shortly after they embarked on the 
river Columbia, saw abundance of Ra\ ens, which were attracted thither 
* 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. 
t Latham. + Medley's Kolben, vol. ii., p. 136. 
§ Voy. in the Indian Ocean, p. 148. 
II Voy. par I. F. G. De la Perouse, ii., p. 129, 203, 443, 
\ Cook's last Voy. ii., p. 236. Am. ed. ** Idem, iii., p. 329. 
