proof, neither need we believe that they can; for as we may 
account for the phenomenon by their sight, it is unnecessary 
to have recourse to their other faculties. Ravens have cha¬ 
racter in their flight, as men have in their walk. A poet 
sauntering by a river, a conchologist, or fisherman hunting along 
the shore for shells, a sportsman searching the woods and 
fields for game, a lady running home from a shower, or a 
gentleman retreating from a mad bull, move each in a different 
manner, suiting the action to the occasion. In like manner, 
ravens, as well as other birds, might communicate intelligence, 
perhaps, several miles distant, judging by the flight of their 
neighbors, that they had a prize in view. In this way, a 
system of telegraphing could be extended over a large extent 
of country, and a great number of birds might be made to 
assemble in a single day. 
When domesticated and treated with kindness, the European 
raven, as well as our native variety, becomes attached to his 
owner, and will follow him about the garden or house, with all 
the familiarity of a confiding friend. 
FOOD AND MANAGEMENT. 
Although the raven is omnivorous, its chief food is carrion, 
by which is here meant the carcases of sheep, horses, cattle, 
deer, and other quadrupeds, dolphins and cetaceous animals in 
general, as well as fishes that have been cast ashore. In 
autumn, it sometimes commits great havoc among grain, and 
in spring, it occasionally destroys young lambs. It has also 
been accused of killing diseased sheep by picking out their 
eyes; but of this there is no satisfactory evidence. It annoys 
the housewives sometimes by flying off with young poultry, 
and especially by breaking and sucking eggs which the ducks 
or hens may have deposited, as they frequently do, among the 
herbage. 
When these birds are intended to fly about, the young must 
