^X'HITE-NEt;KED RAVEN 215 



CORVUS CRYPTOLEUCUS Conch 

 WHITE-NECKED RAVEN 



Plates 37, 3S 

 HABITS 



The white-necked raven is smaller than the American raven, but 

 larger than any of the crows; it has a relatively shorter and deeper 

 bill than the larger raven; and it derives its name from the fact that 

 the feathers of the neck and upper breast are pure white for at least 

 their basal half. The name cryptoleucus is well chosen, for the white 

 bases are well hidden ; they can be seen, with the specimen in hand, by 

 lifting the feathers; but in life they are seldom seen, except when the 

 wind ruffles the plumage or when the bird bends its neck far downward 

 in feeding. 



This raven is essentially a bird of the deserts and open plains of the 

 Southwestern States and Mexico. It formerly occupied a wider range 

 in Colorado, western Kansas, and western Nebraska, but, with chang- 

 ing conditions, it has practically disappeared from these regions. Aiken 

 and Warren (1914) have this to say about the withdrawal of the white- 

 necked raven from its range in Colorado, where it was formerly abun- 

 dant: 



Some strong incentive was necessary to have induced these birds to wander 

 northv/ard from their native range in western Texas and New Mexico. This 

 was offered by tlie slaughter and extermination of the buffalo herds on the western 

 plains which was going on during the late sixties and early seventies. Pioneer 

 settlers were pushing ahead of the railroads ; transportation was by teams, and 

 travelers camped along the road and fed grain to their stock. The Ravens, probably 

 first attracted by tlie buffalo carcasses that strewed the northern plains later 

 followed along the routes of team travel and fed on scattered grain left by campers. 

 By 1874 the buffalo were nearly gone; completed railroads had put the wagon 

 freighters out of business ; frequent houses along most roads provided shelter for 

 travelers and camping became unnecessary; the food supply of the White-necked 

 Raven was curtailed and the bird presently retired to its former habitat. 



The same thing happened to a less extent in New Mexico, for Mrs. 

 Bailey (1928) says that "before the buffalo disappeared the birds oc- 

 curred luuch farther north. * * * In New Mexico, at the present time, 

 they breed from the lowest, hottest valleys of the State up to about 

 5,000 feet, and less commonly a thousand feet higher to 6,000 feet at 

 Silver City." 



As we drove westward from the valley of the San Pedro River 

 toward the Huachuca Mountains, in southern Arizona, we crossed a 

 wide, unbroken plain, a steady, gradual rise of gently sloping land ; for 



