Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

RAVEN (O.E. hrafn, ,Icel. hrafn, Dan....

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V22, Page 923 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

RAVEN (O.E. hrafn, ,Icel. hrafn, See also:Dan. ravn, Du. raaf, Ger. Rabe)  , the largest of the birds of the See also:order Passeres, and a member of the See also:family Corvidae, probably the most highly See also:developed of all birds . See also:Quick-sighted, sagacious and bold, the See also:raven preys on the spoils of fishers and hunters, as also on weakly An See also:illustration appears in Sonnerat's Voyages aux Irides orientales (See also:Paris, 1806), vol. i. p . 182 . animals among flocks and herds . A sentiment of veneration but some of the most striking features of the churches of or superstition has from remote ages and among many races See also:Ravenna—the colonnades, the mosaics, perhaps the cupolas—attached to it . The raven is associated with various characters are not so much See also:Byzantine as representative of See also:early See also:Christian of See also:history, sacred or profane—See also:Noah and See also:Elijah, See also:Odin and See also:art generally . The following are the most important churches Flokki, the last of whom by its means discovered See also:Iceland. of Ravenna, arranged in the order of the See also:dates generally attri-It is said to have played its See also:part in the See also:mythology of the Red buted to them: See also:Indian; and it has often figured in See also:prose and See also:verse, from the See also:time of See also:Shakespeare to that of See also:Poe and See also:Dickens . Superstition has been generally succeeded by persecution, which in many districts has produced extirpation . The raven breeds very early in the See also:year, in See also:England resorting to its See also:nest, which is usually an See also:ancient if not an ancestral structure, about the See also:middle or towards the end of See also:January . 3 . S . Agata 4 .

S . See also:

Pier Crysologo (See also:chapel) 5 . S . Giovanni Battista . 6 . SS . Nazario e Celso . 7 . S . Pier See also:Maggiore (now S . See also:Francesco) 8 . S .

Teodoro (now Santo Spirito)—A . 9 . S.Maria in Cosmodin(Arian See also:

baptistery)—A . . 10 . S . Martino in Coelo Aureo (now S . Apollinare Nuovo) See also:Church . 1 . See also:Metropolitan Church, or 2 . See also:Ecclesia Ursiana, and baptistery adjoining . S . Giovanni Evangelista Builder .

Phoenix-squares

Date . S . Ursus . 37o-390(?) Galla Placidia . 425 Gemellus . about 430 S . See also:

Peter Chrysologus about 450 Baduarius . about 458 Galla Placidia . See also:Bishop Neon (?) See also:Theodoric (?) . 493-526 Therein are laid from five to seven eggs of the See also:common Corvine coloration (see See also:CROW), and the See also:young are hatched before the end of See also:February . In more See also:northern countries the breeding See also:season is naturally delayed, but everywhere this See also:species is almost, if not quite, the earliest breeder . The raven See also:measures about 26 in. in length, and has an expanse of wing consider-ably exceeding a yard . Its See also:bill and feet are See also:black, and the same may be said of its whole plumage, but the feathers of the upper parts as well as of the See also:breast are glossy, reflecting a See also:bright See also:purple or See also:steel-See also:blue . The species (See also:Corvus corax) inhabits the whole of See also:Europe, and the northern if not the central parts of See also:Asia; but in the latter See also:continent its See also:southern range is not well determined .

In See also:

America it is, or used to be, found from the shores of the Polar See also:Sea to See also:Guatemala if not to See also:Honduras, but is said hardly to be found of See also:late years in the eastern part of the See also:United States . In See also:Africa its See also:place is taken by three allied but well-differentiated species, two of which (Corvus umbrinus, readily distinguished by its See also:brown See also:neck, and C. affinis, having its See also:superior nasal bristles upturned vertically) also occur in See also:south-western Asia, while the third (C. leptonyx or C. tingitanus, a smaller species characterized by several slight See also:differences) inhabits See also:Barbary and the See also:Atlantic Islands . Farther to the southward in the Ethiopian region three more species appear whose plumage is varied with See also:white—C. scapulatus, C. albicollis, and C. crassirostris—the first two of small See also:size, but the last rivalling the real raven in that respect . (A . N.) RAVEN-See also:HILL, LEONARD (1867- ), See also:English artist and illustrator, was See also:born on the loth of See also:March 1867 . He was educated at See also:Bristol See also:grammar school and the See also:Devon See also:county school, and studied art at See also:Lambeth and then in Paris under MM . Bougereau and Aime Morot . He began to exhibit at the See also:Salon in 1887, and in the Royal See also:Academy in 1889 . In 1893 he founded, with See also:Arnold Golsworthy, the humorous and See also:artistic monthly The Butterfly (1893-94, revived in 1899-1900) . He contributed to many illustrated magazines, and began to See also:work for See also:Punch, with which he was afterwards prominently associated, in 1896 . He illustrated See also:Sir See also:Walter See also:Besant's See also:East See also:London (Igor) and J . H .

See also:

Harris's Cornish See also:Saints and Sinners; he published the impressions of his visit to See also:India on the occasion of the tour of the See also:prince and princess of See also:Wales as An Indian See also:Sketch-See also:Book (1903); and his other published sketch-books include Our See also:Battalion (1902) and The Promenaders (1894) .

End of Article: RAVEN (O.E. hrafn, ,Icel. hrafn, Dan. ravn, Du. raaf, Ger. Rabe)
[back]
RAVELLO
[next]
RAVENNA

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click and select "copy." Paste it into a website, email, or other HTML document.