GENUS 13. COllVUS. CROW. 
SPECIES 1. C. CORAX. 
RAVEN. 
[Plate LXXV.— Fig. 3.] 
Gmel. Syst. I, p. 364. — Ind. Orn. p. 150. — Le Corbeau, Briss. 
p. 8, el var. — Buff. Ots. 3, p. 13. PL enl. 495. — Temm. Man. 
d' Orn. p. 107. — Haven, Lath. Qen. Syn. i, p. 367. Id. sup. p. 
74. — Penn. Brit. Zool. JYo. 74. Jlrct. Znol. JSTu. 134. — Shaw, 
Gen. Zool. 7, p. 341. — Bewick, i, p. 100. — Low, Fauna Orca- 
densis, p. 45. — Peace’s Museum, JVo. 175. 
A KNOWLEDGE of this Celebrated bird has been handed down 
to us from the earliest ages; and its history is almost coeval 
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 not 
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 spe- 
cies. Though the Raven was declared unclean by the law of 
Moses, yet we are informed, that when the prophet Elijah pro- 
voked the enmity 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 colour of the 
Raven gave 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 
favourite of the royal lover of Jerusalem, in the enthusiasm of 
aSection, thus describes the object of her adoration, in reply to 
the following question: 
* Genesis, viii, 7. 
t 1 King’s, xvii, 5, 6. 
