104 
CORVINE. CORVUS. 
47. CoRvus CoRAX. Black Haven. i 
Feathers of the throat lanceolate, distinct, compact, with 
elongated points ; tail much rounded, slightly bent up towards ; 
the end ; plumage black, splendent, with purplish-blue retiec- ' 
tions on the upper, and green on the lower parts. Young with 
less gloss, but with the colours similar. 
Male, 26, 62, .., 3, 2|, 2, |. Female, 25, 49, | 
The Haven is more abundant in the northern and western 
parts of Scotland than in the southern, or in England, in many ' 
parts of which it has been extirpated. Its flight is commonly 
steady and rather slow, but it can urge its speed to a great 1 
degree of rapidity. In fine weather it often soars to a vast 
height, floating as it were over the mountain- tops. It feeds 
on carcasses of all kinds, stranded fish, Crustacea, insects, 
worms, small quadrupeds, young birds, grain, and other sub- 
stances. The nest is placed on a rock or tall tree, and is com- 
posed of twigs, grass, wool, and feathers, or other materials. | 
The eggs, from, four to seven, are about two inches long, an 
inch and four or five twelfths broad, pale green, with small 
oblong spots and blotches of greenish-brown and grey. If 
unmolested, they breed in the same spot year after year., j 
Should one of a pair be killed during incubation, or even after ( 
the young have left the nest, the survivor soon finds a mate ; ; 
which is also the case with the Carrion Crow and Hooded ! 
Crow. This species is easily tamed, when it can be taught to ; 
modulate its hoarse voice so as to produce some articulate 
sounds. It is perhaps the most sagacious of all our native 
birds. 
Haven. Crow. Corby. 
Corvus Corax, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. 155. — -Corvus Corax, 
Temm. Man. d’Ornith, i. 107. — Corvus Corax, the Haven, 
MacGillivray, Brit, Birds, i. 498. 
48. Corvus leucoph^us. Pied Haven. 
Feathers of the throat lanceolate, distinct, compact, with 
elongated points ; tail much rounded ; bill and feet dusky ; 
claws and tips of mandibles white ; head, throat, breast, ab- 
domen, the greater part of the wings, some of the lower tail- 
coverts, and part of the middle tail-feathers, white ; hind 
neck, back, scapulars, some of the wing-coverts and seconda- 
ries, upper tail-coverts, most of the tail-feathers, and some of 
the elongated feathers on the fore neck, black. The bill in 
this supposed species is larger than in the Black Haven, being 
