THE RAVEN. 
291 
should exhibit the same disposition to carry oft’ shining- 
metallic bodies and other articles, totally unfit either 
for food or to he used in the construction of its nest. 
IVIr Kendall, in crossing the height of laud which 
divides the waters that flow towards Hudson’s Bay 
from those which fall into the Arctic Sea, saw a raven 
flying oft' with something in his claws, pursued by a 
•lumber of his companions. The flock being fired at, 
the object of contention was dropped, and proved to be 
the lock of a chest!”* 
* “ With the exception of the snipe, no bird seems more universally 
spread over the surface of onr globe than the raven, inhabiting 
every zone, the hot, the temperate, and the severe ; feeding upon 
and removing noxious substances from the earth, of which it 
obtains intimation by means of a faculty we hate little conception 
of. Sight it cannot be ; and we know not of any fetor escaping 
from an animal, previous to putrescence, so subtile as to call these 
Scavengers of nature from the extremity ot one country to that of 
another ; for it is manifest, from the height which they preserve 
in their flight, and the haste they are making, that their departure 
has been from some far distant station, having a remote and urgent 
nhject in contemplation. 
“ In England, the raven does not seem to abound ; but it is most 
common on the shores of harbours, or near great rivers, where 
animal substances arc more frequently to be met with than in 
inland places. In Greenland and Iceland, where putrescent fishy 
substances abound, they appear to be almost domesticated. Horace 
calls the raven * Auuosa Cornix and in a tame state it has 
attained a very longlife. How long extended its existence may 
he, when roaming in an unrestricted state, we have no means of 
ascertaining. This liberty may he most favourable to longevity ; 
yet, from the numerous contingencies attending the condition of 
these creatures, it is probable that few ol them live out all their 
hays, so as to become the « bird of ages.’ However, the supposed 
longevity they have attained, their frequent mention and agency 
*n Holy Writ, the obscure knowledge we possess of their powers and 
(natives, witli the gravity of their deportment, like an ‘ all knowing 
hh-d,’ have acquired for them, from very remote periods, the 
ycneration of mankind. The changes of our manners and ideas, 
•n respect to many things, have certainly deprived them of much 
of this reverence : yet the almost supernatural information which 
•hey obtain of the decease, or approaching dissolution, ot an animal, 
claims stiU some admiration tor them. This supposed faculty of 
