. The popular natural history . Zoology. THE RA VEN. 329 The food of the Raven is almost entirely of an animal nature, and there are few living things which the Raven will not eat whenever it finds an oppor tunity of so doing. Worms, grubs, caterpillars, and insects of all kinds arc swallowed by hundreds, but the diet in which the Raven most delights is dead carrion. In conse- quence of this taste, the v Raven may be found rather plentiful on the Scottish sheep-feeding grounds,where the flocks are of such im mense size that the bird i- sure to find a sufficiency cf food among the daily dead ;
. The popular natural history . Zoology. THE RA VEN. 329 The food of the Raven is almost entirely of an animal nature, and there are few living things which the Raven will not eat whenever it finds an oppor tunity of so doing. Worms, grubs, caterpillars, and insects of all kinds arc swallowed by hundreds, but the diet in which the Raven most delights is dead carrion. In conse- quence of this taste, the v Raven may be found rather plentiful on the Scottish sheep-feeding grounds,where the flocks are of such im mense size that the bird i- sure to find a sufficiency cf food among the daily dead ; for its wings are large and powerful, and its daily range of flight is so great, that many thousands of sheep pass daily under its ken, and it is tolerably sure in the course of the day to find at least one dead sheep or lamb. Sometimes the Raven ac- celerates matters, for if it should find an unfortunate sheep lying in a ditch, amis- fortune to which these ani- mals are especially prone, it is sure to cause the speedy death of the poor creature by repeated attacks upon its eyes. Weakly or ailing sheep are also favourite subjects with the Raven, who soon puts an end to their sufferings by the strokes of his long and powerful beak. Even the larger cattle are not free from the assaults of this voracious bird, which performs in every case the office of a vulture. The cunning of the Raven is proverbial, and anecdotes of its extraordinary intellectual powers abound in various works. The Raven is an excellent linguist, acquiring the art of conversation with wonderful rapidity, and retaining with a singularly powerful memory many sounds which it has once learned. Whole sentences are acquired by this strange bird, and repeated with great accuracy of intonation, the voice being a good imitation of human speech, but always sounding as if spoken from behind a thick woollen wrapper. The Raven is celebrated for its longevity, many instances being known where it has attained the age of seven
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectzoology, bookyear1884
