CORVUS. 487 
nigris. Long. tota 24:0, ale 17-3, caude rect. med. 9°5, rect. lat. 7*2, rostri a rictu 3:0, tarsi 2:7. 
(Deser. feminz ex Duefias, Guatemala. Mus. nostr.) 
Hab. Norte America generally? 8, Texas &—Mexico 1! 14 21, Mazatlan (Grayson °), 
Guanajuato, Guadalajara (Dugés"), Orizaba (Sallé*), alpine region of Vera Cruz 
and Cerro Colorado near Tehuacan (Sumichrast *°), Jalapa and State of Puebla 
(Perez 1%), Barrio, Tapana (Sumichrast 1°); Guatemata (Velasquez 1°), Estansuelas, 
Duefias, Chimaltenango (0. S.1"), ridge above Calderas (8300 feet), Volcan de 
Fuego (12,000 feet), Volcan de Atitlan, Quezaltenango, San Gerdénimo (0. 8. & 
F. D. G.); Honpuras, between Opotelma and Siguatepeque (Taylor !°).—Widely 
distributed throughout Evrops and Northern and Central ASIA. 
Mr. Sharpe, in compiling his third volume of the ‘Catalogue of the Birds of the 
British Museum,’ examined very carefully a large series of Ravens from many parts of 
the world; and the conclusion he came to, which is also that of Mr. Dresser, was that 
the species into which Corvus corax is sought to be divided are untenable, and that only 
one species of this form is found throughout Europe, Northern and Central Asia, and 
the whole continent of North America. It is true that North-American writers still 
apply a third name to the bird of the North-American continent, but tangible characters 
whereby to distinguish it altogether fail us. Several names have been applied to the 
bird from Mexico, where its presence has been noted since the days of Hernandez, in 
whose work it appears as the Cacalotl, a name adopted by Wagler in 1831, and one under 
which the Raven is frequently mentioned by writers on Mexican and Central-American 
birds. .Sumichrast says it is the only species of this genus inhabiting the State of Vera 
Cruz, where it is found in the alpine region; he adds that it is rarely seen except within 
the limits of the plateau, where it is abundant. The Cerro Colorado, near Tehuacan, 
to the south of the State of Puebla, is the rendezvous of a large number of these birds. 
At the time of the flowering of the maguey (Agave), with which the sides and summit 
of that mountain are covered, the Ravens gather there in greater abundance than at any 
other time. The blossom of the Agave is their favourite food, as it is also of other 
birds, owing to the honeyed sweetness of their corolla. In Guatemala the Raven is 
chiefly met with in the highlands, its principal resort being such places as Duefias, 
Chimaltenango, Quezaltenango, &c., and we have observed it in the Volcan de Fuego 
as high as 12,000 feet above the level of the sea; but it is not exclusively confined to 
these high elevations, for it is found not unfrequently in the plain of Salama, at an 
elevation of 3000 feet, and on the plain of Zacapa, which is less than 1000 feet above 
the sea. In Honduras Mr. Taylor saw two large crows on a lofty pine-tree on the 
ridge between Opotelma and Siguatepeque, which he refers to this species. Though 
he did not obtain a specimen, it can hardly be doubted he was right in so doing. This 
point marks the southern limit of the Raven in Central America, so far as our present 
knowledge goes. 
