Gesner informs us, that he fed young ravens with raw flesh, small fishes, and bread soaked in water. They are v..ry fond of cherries, and swallow them greedily with the stones and stalks, but digest only the pulpy part, and in two hours afterwards vomit the rest. Although they ra pidly arrive at maturity, they are capable of living to a great age, some well authenticated cases being on record, of their having completed a century-. The ancients, who laid great stress on auguries, studied with the most scru pulous attention the history and manners of the present species, and, besides the more minute discriminations of its voice, reckoned no fewer than sixty-four distinct in flexions. Besides its native notes and calls, however, the raven possesses the talent of imitating the cry of other animals, and even human discourse, a quality which is said to be improved by cutting the ligament of the tongue. Viedlot's tame raven, however, which had never submit ted to this ceremony, nut only pronounced its words very distinctly, but en en associated ideas with them; for, when it wished its neck to be scratched, it incessainly repeated, gratte colas, arm evinced its satisfaction by erecting its leathers, bending i.s head, and inclining its neck. Scali ger heard one, which, when hungry, called on Conrad, the cook; and, he adds, that the same bird, having met with a sheet of music, pricked with its bill. as if it were reacting and beating time. The raven, at all events, is not insensi ble to nusic ; and Dr. Goldsmith was fortunate enough to hear one sing the " Black Joke." with great distinct ness, truth, and humour. That trained by Debes, took a lesson of two hours every morning on his knee, and re peatedwhat it had learned the preceding evening, spel ling syllable by syllable, till it could pronounce the whole word, as children learn to read at school. Many exam ples might also be quoted of the propensity evinced by the raven for mimicking and gesticulation, as well as of its capability of being trained to hunt game. Like some of its congeners, it is likewise notorious for hoarding and pilfering, not only provisions, hut whatever tickles its fancy, especially if it be of a shining or glossy appearance. Thus, one at Erford had the assiduity to carry, one by one, and conceal beneath a stone, in a garden, a quantity of small pieces, amounting to five or six florins.
Notwithstanding the Injury which these birds occasion to the farmer, they are often useful in destroy ink noxious insects and vermin; and in hot countries,, in particular, they are of signal service, in the neighbourhood of towns, by devouring the carcasses and refuse which would other wise prove a serious nuisance. When they croak three or four times, repeatedly extending their wings, and shak ing the leaves of the tree on which they are perched, they are said to foretell serene weather. Linne informs us, that, in the southern provinces of Sweden, the ravens, in fine weather, soar to an immense height, and make a clan gorous noise that is heard at a great distance; and Mr. Pennant adds, that, in this case, they generally fly in pairs. The Greenlanders observe, that when they roam about in a restless manner, making a noise in the air, they presage a violent south wind and tempest.
The large quills of the raven sell for upwards of twelve shillings a hundred. being of great use in tuning the lower notes of harpsichords, and in drawing fine strokes, or executing delicate writing. Few persons, even among the savage tribes of mankind, eat the flesh ; yet, in Green land, it forms an article of food; and the skin, with the feathers on, is preferred to most other substances as a warm under garment, while the beak and claws are used as amulets.
C. corone, Lin. &c. Carrion, or Common Crow. In old English, Gor-crow, or Gore-crow. In the north of Eng land, and some parts of Scotland, it is called Midden Crow, or Black-nebbed Crow. Bluish-black ; tail rounded, tail
feathers acute. Length, eighteen inches, stretch of wing, twenty-six ; weight about nineteen ounces. The female is somewhat smaller than the male, and her plumage of a less shining lustre.
Birds of this species are more numerous than, and as widely diffused as, the raven, being common in most parts of the world; though we are informed, on the testimony of Linne, that they are almost unknown in Sweden; yet they occur in the diocese of Drontheim, and in the Faroe Isles. They generally pass the summer in extensive forests, from which they occasionally emerge to procure subsistence for themselves and their infant brood. They feed on flesh, eggs, worms, insects, and various sorts of grain ; but they are particularly fond of carrion. In spring, they greedily devour the eggs of quails and par tridges, and are so dexterous as to pierce them and carry them on the point of their bill to their young. Even fish and fruits arc not unsuitable to their palate. They often attack the eyes of dying animals, destroy weakly lambs, and, when pressed with hunger, will even pursue birds on the wing. They are notorious for the havock which they occasion among young game and poultry, and in rabbit-warrens, where they kill and devour the young. When hens lay their eggs in hedge-bottoms, or farm yards, crows are often caught in the act of devouring them: but, when they happen to be satiated, they will frequently hide their food, till hunger becomes more urgent. 'The late Mr. Watt, of Heathficld, whose capacious intellect embraced almost every object of human pursuit, mention ed to the writer of this article, that he saw a crow take up a crab a considerable way into the air, let it fall down on a rock, to break the shell, then pounced instantly down on it, and bore it away for immediate consumption. In like manner, a friend of the late Dr. Darwin saw, on the northern coast of Ireland, above a hundred crows preying at once on muscles, which they dispatched by a similar process. Near the Cape of Good Hope, they have been observed to dispose in the same way of land tortoises. We read, too, of an ill-starred philosopher, of ancient times, who was killed by an oyster impinging on his bald pate, which a crow had mistaken for a block of stone.
During the winter, these birds consort with the rooks and hooded crows, and sometimes intermingle with the latter, so as to give rise to a hybrid race. In this season, numerous flights of various species of the first genus as semble about our dwellings, keeping much on the ground, sauntering among the flocks and shepherds, hovering near the tracks of the labourers, and sometimes hopping on the backs of pigs and sheep, with such apparent familiarity, that they might be taken for domestic birds. At night they retire into the forests, to lodge among the large trees, resorting to the general rendezvous from every quarter, sometimes from the distance of nine miles all around, and whence they again sally out, in the morning, in quest of subsistence. As long as this association lasts, the hooded and carrion crows are observed to grow very fat, while the rooks continue always lean. Towards the close of winter, the latter also remove into other regions, whereas the carrion crows resort to the nearest large forests, -where they pair, and seem to divide their territory into districts of about three quarters of a mile in diameter, each of which is allotted to the maintenance of its appro priate family, an arrangement which is said to subsist in violate during the lives of the respective parties. The female lays from four to six eggs, of a bluish green. marked with large and black spots, of cinereous grey and olivaceous, and weighing about five drachms each. She sits about three weeks, during which time the male sup plies her with food.