212 BULLETIN 191, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



"Their ordinary call note is a loud 'craack-craak,' varied sometimes by 

 a deep, grunting 'koerr-koerr,' and again by a clucking, a sort of self- 

 satisfied sound, difficult to reproduce on paper; in fact, they utter a 

 variety of notes when at ease and undisturbed, ainong others a metallic- 

 sounding 'klunk,' which seems to cost them considerable effort." Bowles 

 and Decker (1930) mention a pair that "gave an endless variety of 

 creaks and croaks, quacked very much like a Mallard duck, bawled like 

 a cat, and, in short, made it exceedingly easy to believe that there 

 would be little difficulty in teaching them to talk." I have never heard 

 western birds give the deep-toned, bell-like note that I have heard from 

 birds on the coast of Maine, nor have I seen it mentioned in print, 

 unless Bendire's "metallic-sounding 'klunk'" or Dawson's (1923) "curi- 

 ous, mellow, hunger-6 ope" may refer to it. 



Winter. — Mrs. Bailey (1928) says that, in New Mexico, "in the fall 

 the Ravens with their grown young ascend high into the mountains, 

 even to the tops of the highest peaks," 11,000 to 13,000 feet, but that 

 "the snows of early fall drive the birds from these extreme altitudes. 

 The winter is spent in the valley and foothills for the most part below 

 7,500 feet. ♦ ♦ * in the winter, Mr. Ligon has found the Ravens going 

 about in pairs and he thinks that they remain mated. At this season 

 they come into towns and are far less shy than during the early summer. 

 At Albuquerque one was seen by Mr. Loring perched on a cow's back, 

 and at Deming they were found feeding in the streets acting as im- 

 portant scavengers, while a dozen seen in a hogyard, feeding with the 

 hogs, allowed a person to pass within twenty feet of them without 

 their flying away." 



Fred Mallery Packard writes to me from Estes Park, Colo. "Small 

 flocks of ravens may be seen almost daily in winter near Estes Park 

 between 7,500 and 8,500 elevations, occasionally flying higher. After 

 February fewer are to be seen, and these usually in pairs flying near 

 the tops of the mountains above 10,000 feet. In September and Oc- 

 tober they are to be seen in small numbers flying over the alpine 

 meadows and southward down the canyons at 12,000 feet or higher, 

 descending to the lower valleys when the snows fall on the heights." 



John E. Gushing, Jr. (1941), summarizes his report on the winter 

 behavior of ravens by saying: "The ravens in the vicinity of Tomales 

 Bay, Marin County, California, roost together in a brushy canyon on 

 a small hill near Valley Ford, Sonoma County, during the fall and 

 winter months. During the day the birds disperse over the surround- 

 ing country, some of them travelling at least forty miles a day. The 

 colony numbered about 200 birds on the two times that counts were 

 made. It has probably been in existence for at least nine years, quite 

 possibly much longer." 



