Hatter (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland) the other is a bureau with a quill!" The RSPB, in its definition of Raven, states: "The raven [...] is all black with a large bill, and long wings." American author Stephen King provides an alternative answer to the Hatter's riddle in his 1977 horror novel "The Shining". Snowbound and isolated "ten thousand feet high" in the Rocky Mountains, the five-year-old son "Danny" hears whispers of the malign "voice of the [Overlook] hotel" inside his head, including this bit of mockery, "why is a raven like a writing desk? The higher the fewer, of course! Have another cup of tea!"
Tambour desk when not in use. The desktop is supported by sliders, like a secretary desk or a slant top desk when it is unfolded. The tambour desk is an antique form indigenous to the United States of America and should not be confused with the British tambour writing table. Tambour desk A tambour desk is a desk with desktop-based drawers and pigeonholes, in a way resembling bureau à gradin. The small drawers and nooks are covered, when required, by reeded or slatted shutters, "tambours", which usually retract in the two sides, left and right. It is a flatter and "sideways" version