1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Raven

​RAVEN (O.E. hræfn, Icel. hrafn, Dan. ravn, Du. raaf,Ger. Rabe), the largest of the birds of the order Passeres, anda member of the family Corvidae, probably the most highlydeveloped of all birds. Quick-sighted, sagacious and bold, theraven preys on the spoils of fishers and hunters, as also on weakly ​animals among flocks and herds. A sentiment of venerationor superstition has from remote ages and among many racesattached to it. The raven is associated with various charactersof history, sacred or profane—Noah and Elijah, Odin andFlokki, the last of whom by its means discovered Iceland.It is said to have played its part in the mythology of the RedIndian; and it has often figured in prose and verse, from thetime of Shakespeare to that of Poe and Dickens. Superstitionhas been generally succeeded by persecution, which in manydistricts has produced extirpation.

The raven breeds very early in the year, in England resortingto its nest, which is usually an ancient if not an ancestralstructure, about the middle or towards the end of January.Therein are laid from five to seven eggs of the common Corvinecoloration (see Crow), and the young are hatched before theend of February. In more northern countries the breedingseason is naturally delayed, but everywhere this species isalmost, if not quite, the earliest breeder. The raven measuresabout 26 in. in length, and has an expanse of wing considerablyexceeding a yard. Its bill and feet are black, and the samemay be said of its whole plumage, but the feathers of the upperparts as well of the breast are glossy, reflecting a brightpurple or steel-blue. The species (Corvus corax) inhabits thewhole of Europe, and the northern if not the central partsof Asia; but in the latter continent its southern range is notwell determined. In America it is, or used to be, found fromthe shores of the Polar Sea to Guatemala if not to Honduras,but is said hardly to be found of late years in the eastern part ofthe United States. In Africa its place is taken by three alliedbut well-differentiated species, two of which (Corvus umbrinus,readily distinguished by its brown neck, and C. affinis, havingits superior nasal bristles upturned vertically) also occur insouth-western Asia, while the third (C. leptonyx or C. tingitanus,a smaller species characterized by several slight differences)inhabits Barbary and the Atlantic Islands. Farther to thesouthward in the Ethiopian region three more species appearwhose plumage is varied with white—C. scapulatus, C. albicollis,and C. crassirostris—the first two of small size, but the lastrivalling the real raven in that respect.  (A. N.)