WHITE-NECKED RAVEN 219 



fully fledged in the juvenal plumage before they leave the nest. The 

 Juvenal body plumage is dull black, without any of the purplish gloss 

 of the adults; but the bases of the feathers of the neck, chest, and 

 breast are pure white; the lanceolate feathers of the throat, so prom- 

 inent in the adult, are lacking; the wings and tail are as in the adult; 

 the basal half of the lower mandible is light colored, probably flesh- 

 colored in life. Young birds that Mr. Swarth (1904) raised in cap- 

 tivity began to molt about the first of October and were in full winter 

 plumage by the first of November, having renewed all the contour plum- 

 age, but not the wings and tail. 



I have seen no molting adults, but probably their molts are similar 

 to those of the young birds. 



Food. — Ralph H. Imler (1939) has made a comparative study of the 

 winter food of these ravens and crows in Oklahoma. He concluded that 

 the crows were apparently more beneficial than the ravens, as they ate 

 many more insects and weed seeds. The percentages of the different 

 kinds of food found in the stomachs of 20 ravens killed in December 

 were as follows: Beetles, 0.1; grasshoppers, 1.8; mammals, 4.5; sor- 

 ghums, 29.8; corn, 17.3; melons and citron seeds, 3.0; hackberries, 

 37.5; sunflowers, 4.5; and debris, 1.5 percent. 



It seems to be quite as omnivorous as other ravens and crows and 

 quite as useful as a scavenger, picking up whatever scraps of food are 

 thrown out from camps and kitchens and carrying off and hiding what 

 it does not eat. Major Bendire (1895) saw one dig a trench and bury 

 a salmon croquette in it, covering it up and marking it for future 

 reference; the Major dug it up, and when the raven returned for it 

 he was disappointed and flew away in disgust. 



Mrs. Bailey (1928) lists its food as "principally animal matter, in- 

 cluding carrion (as dead jack rabbits), cottontails and cotton rats, field 

 mice, lizards, cicadas, alfalfa caterpillars and 'conchuela' ; also cactus, 

 wild fruit, and probably waste grain. Stomachs of five young about ten 

 days old examined by Ligon contained three small nestlings, probably 

 homed larks, birds' eggs, a small lizard, beetles, grasshoppers, and 'jar 

 flies'." 



Vernon Bailey (1903) says: "The abundant and juicy fruit of the 

 cactus, Opuntia, Cereus, and Mammalaria, supplies part and probably 

 a large part of their food during July, August, and September, enabling 

 the ravens as well as some of the mammals and even men to make long 

 journeys into waterless valleys with comparative comfort." 



Since the above was written, an extensive research report on the 

 white-necked raven has been published by tlie Fish and Wildlife Service 

 (Aldotis, 1942), in which some 35 pages are devoted to a study of the 



