The  Raven  is  usually  a  very  high  flier  (you
often  hear  its  bass  croak  before  you  see  it),  especially
when  crossing  a  valley  or  enclosed  lands. It
doubtless  fears  some  fancied  ambush  :  for  which
reason,  except  at  the  nest  or  in  a  mist,  it  is  seldom
shot. It  is  poison  that  has  thinned  the  Raven's
ranks. This  high-flying  propensity,  combined
with  the  creature's  rather  curved,  quite  sharply-
pointed  and  comparatively  narrow  wings,  and
decidedly  wedge-shaped  tail,  not  to  mention  its
habit  of  soaring  like  the  big  hawks,  all  help  to
identify  the  bird  at  a  range  when  it  looks  no  larger
than  a  Jackdaw. The  species  easiest  to  confuse
it  with — but  then  only  at  a  moderately  long  dis-
tance or  in  a  mist — is  the  Carrion-Crow. The
latter 's  flight,  however,  is  quicker,  its  wings  more
rounded. The  Raven's  flight,  while  being
measured,  purposeful,  and  vigorous,  seems  to  me
to  be  out  of  the  straight  ;  in  other  words,  the
Raven  ever  appears  to  hold  a  slightly  diagonal


RAVENS  93

course  through  the  heavens. Of  course,  at  any
reasonable  range,  the  bird's  huge,  Jewish  nose  and
bulky  figure  let  you  into  its  identity  immediately  ;
and  its  croak,  once  heard,  can  never  be  forgotten,
or  confused  with  the  cry  of  any  other  "  courier
of  the  air."

Omnivorous  in  its  diet,  scarce  anything  edible
fails  to  whet  the  Raven's  fancy — from  shell-fish,
sea-refuse,  carrion,  and  garbage  generally,  to
wounded,  and  even  unwounded,  small  mammals
and  birds,  particularly  the  "  cheepers  "  of  game-
birds,  which  it  swallows  whole. But  it  seldom
lets  its  thoughts  stray  to  the  dainties  of  the  poultry-
yard. Mutton,  however,  and  very  particularly
mutton,  may  be  included  in  the  bill  of  fare,  and
it  is  to  be  feared  that  many  an  ewe  could  tell  a
piteous  tale  of  a  fatal  shadow,  dusky,  flapping,
wings,  and  a  bill  of  iron  savagely  applied  to  her
new-born  lamb. The  ewes  themselves,  too,  when
in  difficulties,  either  during  the  dread  moment  of
parturition,  or  if  foundered  hopelessly  in  a  cleft  of
the  rocks,  do  not  escape  its  unwelcome  attentions,
in  which  latter  case  at  any  rate,  long  ere  death
from  starvation  ensues,  the  tired,  frightened  eyes
are  gouged  out  to  become  daintiest  of  morsels  to
the  Raven. 