80 NATURAL HISTORY OF ARCTIC AMERICA. 



many times before tliey swallowed them, and even tlirowiug- and tossing 

 them, to be sure that there was no trap about it. Some pieces that 

 looked suspicious they would not eat, but walked around them and 

 turned them over, but could not be convinced that there w^as not some 

 trickery about them. I have often found them hunting about the ob- 

 servatory after some straj" scraps, even on my return from dinner, when 

 it was so dark that I could not see them but a few feet away. On moon- 

 light nights I have known them to make visits to the rubbish pile out- 

 side our observatory ; but such cases are rare, and only at the season 

 when they cannot get any food without the greatest difQculty. At 

 Annanactook Harbor they began building as early as March 20, but I 

 saw some carrying pieces of skin and hair from the Eskimo encampments 

 many days earlier than this, and when we had a temperature of —40° 

 Fahr. 



They nest only on the south side of the highest and most inaccessible 

 cliffs, so the nest can seldom be reached. I examined one nest built on 

 a little shelf of a high cliff. It was composed almost entirely of pieces 

 of Eskimo skin clothing, among which were scattered the larger wing- 

 bones of gulls, the larger jnlmaries of several species of birds, twigs of 

 salix, &c. The inside had a good lining of Poa alpina^ and a consider- 

 able quantity of reindeer, fox, and dog hair, the whole i>resenting a very 

 cozy appearance indeed. As soon as the seals begin to pup under the 

 snow on the ice, they follow the foxes, which find the seal and drag them 

 out. Now the ravens can fare well on the leavings. The Eskimo firmly 

 beheve that it does not hurt the ravens' eggs to freeze. They say the 

 shell cracks, but the inner membrane is very thick and tough. I found 

 that the Scotch whalers are also of this opinion, some positively assert- 

 ing that they had knowTi/rosew ravens' eggs to hatch ! 



The young are full-fledged by the latter i)art of May. During the 

 autumn months they feed largely on the berries of Vaccinium ulujinosum 

 and Empetrum nigrum. I have often observed them fishing at low tide 

 among the stones. I killed a couple to ascertain the nature of the food 

 they got. I fouud it to be Cottus scorpius and Liparis vulgaris ?, with a 

 few small crustaceans. 



They are resident in Cumberland the entire year, but appear more 

 numerous in winter, from their habit of staying about the Eskimo en- 

 camiiments. 



The raven is considered as worse than useless by the Eskimo. They 

 make no use of them except to w'ipe the blood and grease from their 

 hands and face with the feathers. 



