186 POPULAR SCRIPTURE ZOOLOGY.

The Jackdaw (Corvus monedula).—In this species the
head is black, the neck and back greyish-black ; the wing-
coverts black, glossed with violet: the under parts bluish-
black. The jackdaw feeds on insects, worms, and various
seeds; it builds chiefly in towns, ruins, and cliffs, laying five
or six spotted eggs. These three species are very generally
diffused, and were probably familiar to the sacred writers.

The Raven (Corvus coraz) is the largest of the genus; its
bill is strong and black, covered with hairs or bristles; the
colour of the whole bird black, finely glossed with blue. It
is a bold and sagacions bird, eating every animal substance
that comes in its way, and often destroying rabbits, young
ducks, and chickens, always commencing its repast on the
eyes of the animal. This fact was well known in ancient
times, as appears by the expression in Proverbs xxx., “The
eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his
mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the
young eagles shall eat it.” The female lays five or six eggs
of a pale bluish-green, spotted with brown; the nest is
placed in trees or in the holes of rocks. In Leviticus xi.
the word ored, translated “raven,” may probably be taken in
its general sense, and thus, “every raven after his kind”
would include all those Corvide known to the Hebrews,