_The Raven_ (Fig. 473) occurs almost as early as any other heraldic bird. It is said to have been a Danish device. The powerful Norman family of Corbet, one of the few remaining families which can show an unbroken male descent from the time of the Conquest to the present day, have always remained faithful to the raven, though they have added to it sometimes a _bordure_ or additional numbers of its kind. "Or, a raven sable," the well-known Corbet coat, is, of course, a canting allusion to their Norman name, or nickname, "Le Corbeau." Their name, like their pedigree, is unique, inasmuch as it is one of the few names of undoubted Norman origin which are not territorial, and possibly the fact that their lands of Moreton Corbett, one of their chief seats, were known by their name has assisted in the perpetuation of what was, originally, undoubtedly a personal nickname. [Illustration: FIG. 472.--Heron.] [Illustration: FIG. 473.--Raven.] Fig. 474 is a striking example of the virility which can be imparted to the raven. It is reproduced from Grünenberg's "Book of Arms" (1483). Ströhl suggests it may be of "Corbie" in Picardy, but the identity of the arms leads one to fancy the name attached may be a misdescription of the English family of Corbet. [Illustration: FIG. 474.] Heraldically, no difference is made in depicting the raven, the rook, and the crow; and examples of the Crow will be found in the arms of Crawhall, and of the _Rook_ in the crest of Abraham. The arms of the Yorkshire family of Creyke are always blazoned as rooks, but I am inclined to think they may possibly have been originally _creykes_, or corn-crakes. _The Cornish Chough_ is very much more frequently met with than either the crow, rook, or raven, and it occurs in the arms of Bewley, the town of Canterbury, and (as a crest) of Cornwall. It can only be distinguished from the raven in heraldic representations by the fact that the Cornish chough is always depicted and frequently blazoned as "beaked and legged gules," as it is found in its natural state. {249} _The Owl_ (Fig. 475), too, is a very favourite bird. It is always depicted with the face affronté, though the body is not usually so placed. It occurs in the arms of Leeds--which, by the way, are an example of colour upon colour--Oldham, and Dewsbury. In the crest of Brimacombe the wings are open, a most unusual position. _The Lark_ will be found in many cases of arms or crests for families of the name of Clarke. _The Parrot_, or, as it is more frequently termed heraldically, the _Popinjay_ (Fig. 476), will be found in the arms of Lumley and other families. It also occurs in the arms of Curzon: "Argent, on a bend sable three popinjays or, collared gules." [Illustration: FIG. 475.--Owl.] [Illustration: FIG. 476.--Popinjay.] [Illustration: FIG. 477.--Moorcock.] There is nothing about the bird, or its representations, which needs special remark, and its usual heraldic form follows nature pretty closely.