THE RAVENS. 
7 
Municipality to shoot them down, though one would have 
ancied that the constant firing of a gun in a . public 
oroughfare would prove a greater nuisance than the “ cawing” 
°f the birds themselves. 
Nest — A stout and compact structure composed of turf and 
twi gs, the inside consisting of roots and straws, and the whole 
uest being not unlike a huge Blackbird’s ; it is by no 
Means untidy, and is much more neatly finished than could I e 
peheved from the ragged appearance which the nests present 
M a rookery, when viewed irom below. 
E Sgs — Three to five in number, the ground-colour being 
green or bluish green, sometimes nearly white. The markings 
consist of spots and blotches of greenish brown, with darker 
spots of bluer or blackish brown. Axis, i'4-i‘65J diam., 
TIIE RAVENS. GENUS CORVUS. 
Corvus, Linn., Syst. Nat., i., p. 155 (1766). 
Type. C. corax (Linn.). 
The nostrils always hidden by bristly feathers. Bill very 
f out an d equal in length to the head. First primary quill 
n g' equalling, or even exceeding, the innermost secondaries 
M length. 
The Ravens are spread over the greater part of the Northern 
^cgions of both hemispheres, i.e., the Palcearctic and Nearctic 
or ^'? nSf They are birds which vary much in size, and many 
bu lth °l°gists believe in several races of the common Raven ; 
br y d / ter the examination of a large series of specimens in the 
Co 1S ” ^ useu M, we cannot allow that more than one form of 
' I’us corax exists, the most recognisable of the races being 
the 'l l, exists, tne most recogntsaDie 01 me races oeing 
has 1 ll ^ etan Raven ( Corvus ihibetanus of Hodgson), which 
imb ° n ^ er . hackles on the throat. A desert form, Corvus 
^habits Egypt and Syria, and extends to Persia, 
(C ? n ' s ? an > and North-western India, while a third Raven 
A Ust ,n S lta nus) inhabits Morocco and the Canary Islands. 
1 «dlcl DOSRPqqqg c-nueioL- Irina anrl Afrirn 
has 
two. 
possesses one species of true Raven, and Africa 
