Ravens, Crows and Tolkien
Tolkien used ravens and crows as spies and messengers in his Lord of the Rings and Hobbit books. Both were considered quite intelligent and long lived creatures that could interact with man, elf and dwarf.
First, the ravens. The Dwarves of the Lonely Mountain built a friendship with the ravens, and the ravens would bring messages between dwarves that were separated. The ravens could speak 'common' language. They could live up to 150 years or more and form lasting relationships with the long lived dwarves.
The crows were more often used by the dark forces of Sauron and Saruman. They were called Crebain and were often sent out to scout the area for enemies. Saruman sends them explicitly to search for the fellowship when the group first leaves Rivendell - it is because of them that Gandalf decides to risk the snowy path on top of Mount Caradhras.
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