216 A DESCRIPTION OF 
The fetters creak and his ebon beak 
Creaks to the close of the hollow sound : 
And this is the tune, by the light of the moon, 
To which the witches dance their round. 
BYRON'S MANFRED. 
THE Raven is about two feet in length, and above four in 
breadth. His weight is about three pounds. The bill is 
strong, black, and hooked at the tip. The plumage of the 
whole body of a shining black, glossed with deep blue ; 
yet the black of the lower part inclines to a dusky colour. 
He is of a strong and hardy disposition, and inhabits all 
climates of the globe. He builds his nest in trees ; and 
the female lays five or six eggs of a palish green colour, 
spotted with brown. It is said that the life of this bird 
extends to a century ; and even beyond that period, if we 
can believe the accounts of several naturalists on the 
subject. The Raven unites the voracious appetite of the 
crow to the dishonesty of the daw, and the docility of al- 
most every other bird. He feeds chiefly on small animals; 
and is said to destroy rabbits, young ducks, and chickens, 
and sometimes even lambs, when they happen to be drop- 
ped in a weak state. In the northern regions, he preys 
on carrion, in concert with the white bear, the arctic fox, 
and the eagle. The faculty of scent in these birds must be 
ver} r acute ; for in the coldest of the winter days, at Hud- 
son's Bay, when every kind of effluvia is almost instan- 
taneously destroyed by the frost, buffaloes and other 
beasts have been killed where not one of these birds was 
seen ; but in a few hours scores of them have been found 
collected about the spot, to pick up the blood and offal. 
The Raven possesses many diverting and mischievous 
qualities ; he is active, curious, sagacious and impudent ; 
by nature a glutton, by habit a thief, in disposition a 
miser, and in practice a rogue. He is fond of picking up 
any small piece of money, bits of glass, or anything that 
shines, and conceals it carefully under the eaves of roofs, 
