CrowThough not generally perceived as graceful, crows are remarkably so—a single curve undulates from the tip of the bird’s beak to the end of its tail. They take flight almost without effort, flapping their wings easily and ascending into the air like spirits. Crow by Boria Sax is a celebration of the crow and its relatives in myth, literature, and life. Sax takes readers into the history of crows, detailing how in a range of cultures, from the Chinese to the Hopi Indians, crows are bearers of prophecy. For example, thanks in part to the birds’ courtship rituals, Greeks invoked crows as symbols of conjugal love. From the raven sent out by Noah to the corvid deities of the Eskimo, from Taoist legends to Victorian novels and contemporary films, Sax’s book ranges across history and culture and will interest anyone who has ever been intrigued, puzzled, annoyed, or charmed by these wonderfully intelligent birds. |
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Page 7
... trees, including one tall pine. Looking straight up through the branches, I could make out a nest near the very top. The crow was a fledgling, cast from the nest so that it would learn to fly. Hardly anybody on that busy sidewalk would ...
... trees, including one tall pine. Looking straight up through the branches, I could make out a nest near the very top. The crow was a fledgling, cast from the nest so that it would learn to fly. Hardly anybody on that busy sidewalk would ...
Page 20
... trees. There is also a hook, carefully sculpted from a curved twig, with which to draw grubs out from hollows. Perhaps most remarkable of all, there is a saw made from the skeleton of a leaf, which it uses to slice and impale grubs. All ...
... trees. There is also a hook, carefully sculpted from a curved twig, with which to draw grubs out from hollows. Perhaps most remarkable of all, there is a saw made from the skeleton of a leaf, which it uses to slice and impale grubs. All ...
Page 26
... tree or an abandoned building. Corvids and people even share a special intimacy with the canid family. Scientists in North America have observed a symbiotic relationship between wolves and crows or ravens. Ravens follow wolf packs, and ...
... tree or an abandoned building. Corvids and people even share a special intimacy with the canid family. Scientists in North America have observed a symbiotic relationship between wolves and crows or ravens. Ravens follow wolf packs, and ...
Page 39
... tree with wings outstretched, as a hippopotamus gathers a basket of figs from its branches. The Egyptians kept various meticulous records of business transactions, but they wrote down very little of their mythology, and we know the ...
... tree with wings outstretched, as a hippopotamus gathers a basket of figs from its branches. The Egyptians kept various meticulous records of business transactions, but they wrote down very little of their mythology, and we know the ...
Page 41
... tree in the grove of Zeus at Dodona. The dove in Libya directed the people to make an oracle to the god Ammon. The dove in Dodona spoke in a human tongue, telling the people that the grove would be a place of divination. By the time of ...
... tree in the grove of Zeus at Dodona. The dove in Libya directed the people to make an oracle to the god Ammon. The dove in Dodona spoke in a human tongue, telling the people that the grove would be a place of divination. By the time of ...
Contents
31 | |
38 | |
The European Middle Ages and Renaissance | 55 |
Asia | 80 |
Native American Culture | 90 |
The Romantic Era | 102 |
Lord of the Crows | 128 |
The Twentieth Century and Beyond | 144 |
References | 164 |
Bibliography | 168 |
Websites | 175 |
Associations | 177 |
Acknowledgements | 178 |
Photo Acknowledgements | 179 |
Index | 180 |
Timeline | 162 |
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Common terms and phrases
Ages and Renaissance American crow animals Apollo appear archaic associated Athena Badbh battle beak became behaviour birds body carrion crow Celtic Celts colour common raven corone corvids creatures crow Corvus crow or raven crows and ravens culture dead death deity divination Emperor Ernest Thompson Seton especially Europe fable farmers feathers fields flew genus Corvus Ghost Dance goddess Gogh Greek Grimm brothers heaven hero hooded crow Horapollo human illustration Indians Inuit Irish jackdaw Jacob de Voragine killed king legend literature live Lorenz magpie medieval Middle Ages myths Native Americans nests nineteenth century Noah numbers O'Casey Odin painted pecking perched perhaps poem popular probably prophet raven or crow Roman rooks scarecrow scaring scientists Sean O'Casey Seton shows Silverspot sometimes story symbol tale tell told traditions tree twentieth century wings wolves word wrote young