232 
CORVUS CORAX. 
earth, Noah, wishing to ascertain whether or no 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 species. Though the raven was declared 
unclean by the law of Moses, yet we are informed, 
that, when the prophet Elijah provoked 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, f The colour of 
the raven has given 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 affection, 
thus describes the object of her adoration, in reply to 
the following question : — 
What is thy beloved more than another beloved, 
O thou fairest among women ? 
My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among 
Ten thousand. His head is as the most fine gold, 
His locks are bushy, and black as a raven ! f 
The above-mentioned circumstances taken into con- 
sideration, one would suppose that the lot of the 
subject of this chapter would have been of a different 
complexion from what history and tradition inform us 
is the fact. But in every country we are told the 
raven is considered an ominous bird, whose croakings 
foretell approaching evil ,* and many a crooked beldam 
has given interpretation to these oracles, of a nature to 
infuse terror into a whole community. Hence this ill- 
fated bird, from time immemorial, has been the innocent 
subject of vulgar obloquy and detestation. 
Augury, or the art of foretelling future events by the 
flight, cries, or motions of birds, descended from the 
Chaldeans to the Greeks, thence to the Etrurians, and 
from them it was transmitted to the Romans. § The 
* Genesis, viii, 7. f 1 Kings, xvii, 5, 6. 
j Song of Solomon, v, 9, 10, 11. 
§ That the science of augury is very ancient, we learn from the 
Hebrew lawgiver, who prohibits it, as well as every other kind of 
