nest; they flap their wings, and at length take courage and fly to some
more commodious and nat distant lodgment. Gradually they become
able to follow their parents abroad, and at length search for maintenance
in their company, and that of others, until the period of breeding arrives,
when they separate in pairs, and disperse.
Notwithstanding all the care of the Raven, his nest is invaded whereever
it is found. His usefulness is forgotten, his faults are remembered
and multiplied by imagination; and whenever he presents himself he is
shot at, because from time immemorial ignorance, prejudice, and destructiveness
have operated on the mind of man to his detriment. Men will
peril their lives to reach his nest, assisted by ropes and poles, alleging
merely that he has killed one of their numerous sheep or lambs. Some
say they destroy the Raven because he is black; others, because his
croaking is unpleasant and ominous ! Unfortunate truly are the young
ones that are carried home to become the wretched pets of some ill-broughtup
child! For my part, I admire the Raven, because I see much in him
calculated to excite our wonder. It is true that he may sometimes hasten
the death of a half-starved sheep, or destroy a weakly lamb; he may eat
the eggs of other birds, or occasionally steal from the farmer some of those
which he calls his own; young fowls also afford precious morsels to himself
and his progeny;—but how many sheep, lambs, and fowls, are saved
through his agency ! The more intelligent of our farmers are well aware
that the Raven destroys numberless insects, grubs, and worms ; that he
kills mice, moles, and rats, whenever he can find them; that he will seize
the weasel, the young opossum, and the skunk; that, with the perseverance
of a cat, he will watch the burrows of foxes, and pounce on the cubs;
our farmers also are fully aware that he apprises them of the wolfs prowlings
around their yard, and that he never intrudes on their corn fields
except to benefit them;—yes, good reader, the farmer knows all this
well, but he also knows his power, and, interfere as you may, with tale of
pity or of truth, the bird is a Raven, and, as LAFONTAINE has aptly
and most truly said, " La loi du plus fort est toujours la meilleure ! 7
The flight of the Raven is powerful, even, and at certain periods
greatly protracted. During calm and fair weather it often ascends to an
immense height, sailing there for hours at a time; and although it cannot
be called swift, it propels itself with sufficient power to enable it to contend
with different species of hawks, and even with eagles when attacked
by them. It manages to guide its course through the thickest fogs of
the countries of the north, and is able to travel over immense tracts of
land or water without rest.
The Raven is omnivorous, its food consisting of small animals of every
kind, eggs, dead fish, carrion, shell-fish, insects, worms, nuts, berries, and
other kinds of fruit. I have never seen one attack a large living animal,
as the Turkey Buzzard and Carrion Crow are wont to d o ; but I have
known it follow hunters when without dogs, to feed on the offals of the
game, and carry off salted fish when placed in a spring to freshen. It
often rises in the air with a shell-fish for the purpose of breaking it by
letting it fall on a rock. Its sight is exceedingly acute, but its smell, if it
possess the sense, is weak. In this respect, it bears a great resemblance
to our vultures.
The breeding season of this bird varies, according to the latitude,
from the beginning of January to that of June. I have found young Ravens
on the banks of the Lehigh and the Susquehannah rivers on the 1st of
May ; about ten days later on those of the majestic Hudson ; in the beginning
of June on the island of Grand Manan off the Bay of Fundy ;
and at Labrador, as late as the middle of July. The nest is always placed
in the most inaccesssible part of rocks that can be found, never, I believe,
on trees, at least in America. It is composed of sticks, coarse weeds,
wool, and bunches of hair of different animals. The eggs are from four
to six, of a rather elongated oval shape, fully two inches in length, having
a ground colour of light greenish-blue, sprinkled all over with small irregular
blotches of light purple and yellowish-brown, so numerous on the
larger end, as almost entirely to cover it. The period of incubation extends
to nineteen or twenty days. Only one brood is raised in a year, unless the
eggs or young be removed or destroyed. The young remain in the nest
many weeks before they are able to fly. The old birds return to the same
nest for years in succession; and should one of them be destroyed, the
other will lead a new partner to the same abode. Even after the young
have made their appearance, should one of the parents be killed, the survivor
usually manages to find a mate, who undertakes the task of assisting
in feeding them.
The Raven may be said to be of a social disposition, for, after the
breeding season, flocks of forty, fifty, or more, may sometimes be seen, as
I observed on the coast of Labrador, and on the Missouri. When domesticated,
and treated with kindness, it becomes attached to its owner, and
will follow him about with all the familiarity of a confiding friend. It is