Identifier: historyofbritish02morr (find matches)
Title: A history of British birds. By the Rev. F.O. Morris ..
Year: 1862 (1860s)
Authors: Morris, F. O. (Francis Orpen), 1810-1893
Subjects: Birds
Publisher: London, Groombridge and Sons
Contributing Library: Smithsonian Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Smithsonian Libraries

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pearedfrom the previous and other statements. The eggs, four or five in number, are dull white spottedwith grey and brown, most at the thicker end. Male; length, between one foot four and one foot five inches;bill, red; yellow within—it is said to be very brittle: iris, redin the centre, surrounded by a circle of blue. The wholeplumage is black, glossed with blue. The wings reach nearlyto the end of the tail; the first feather is three inches shorterthan the second, which is one inch shorter than the third,and the third a little less than the fourth, which is thelongest in the wing. The tail is of a more metallic lustrethan the rest of the plumage. Legs and toes, red; claws,glossy black, large, and much hooked. The female weighs about fourteen ounces: length, betweenone foot two and one foot three inches; her bill is shorterthan that of the male. The quiU feathers are less black thanin the male. The young birds have but little of the purple gloss. Iris,yellowish brown; legs, orange.
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RAVEN. 31 RAVEN. CORBIE. COEBIE-CEOW. GEEAT COEBTE-CEOW.Corvus corax, Pennant. Montagu. Corvvs—A Crow. (Latin.) Corax—k Crow. (Greek.) The geographical distribution of the Raven is soon described.He is a citizen of the world. His sable plumage reflects theburning sun of the equator, and his shadow falls upon theregions of perpetual snow; he ahghts on the jutting peak ofthe most lofty mountain, and haunts the centre of the vastuntrodden plain; his hoarse cry startles the soHtude of thedense primeval forest, and echoes among the rocks of the lonelyisland of the ocean: no ultima Thule is a terra incognitato him; Arctic and Antarctic are both alike the home of theCorbie-Crow. In the best and most ancient of books, saysWilson, we learn, that at the end of forty days, after thegreat flood had covered the earth, Noah, wishing to ascertainwhether or no the waters had abated, sent forth a Raven,which did not return into the ark. The Raven is, in some degree, migratory; though not, asit wou

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