NORTHERN RAVEN 187 



on the smallest ledge on the face of the cliff. Very frequently the nest will be 

 placed under an overhanging tongue of rock so that it will be protected from 

 above and I have yet to see a nest in use that is not sheltered either by trees or 

 by an overhang. ♦ * * The height of the cliff seems to be a secondary consideration 

 to the shade, though rarely is a cliff with a straight drop of less than fifty feet 

 chosen and they run from there up to two hundred feet. 



In the case of the tree nesting Ravens, the first requisite they seem to de- 

 mand is the highest available tree, and the second is good cover in the very top 

 of the tree. The tree nests are giant structures over four feet across and yet the 

 birds conceal them so well in the very top of the tree tliat they are frequently 

 very hard to see from the ground. * * * The tree nests are usually placed in a 

 double or triple vertical crotch from seventy to over one hundred feet up, nearly 

 always the highest available strong crotch but in one instance a horizontal crotch 

 four feet out on a large limb was used. 



The base of the nest varies from little more than three feet to five feet in the 

 largest nests with an average of almost four feet. The cavity averages a foot 

 in diameter and six inches in depth, the depth varying considerably. * * * 

 The base is composed almost entirely of dead branches and sticks, freshly broken 

 by the birds themselves. When built upon last year's nest, the freshly broken 

 sticks make a sharp line of contrast where they are built upon the old excrement 

 bespattered rim of the previous year. Some of these dead branches are over 

 three quarters of an inch in diameter and over three feet long. ♦ ♦ ♦ 



The two most constant features of the cup lining are bark shreds and deer 

 hair, the latter predominating when available. * * * The bark strips, shreds and 

 fibres are obtained from dead trees, underneath the rough outer bark and they 

 frequently use grapevine shreds as well. Some nests are lined almost entirely 

 with white hair from the belly of the deer and some with red from the back, the 

 birds using just what is available from the carcass. Outside of these main 

 features the lining varies according to material available in the various localities. 

 Tufts of hair from domestic cattle or from dogs as well as horse hair are fre- 

 quently found. Bits of fur from the skunk, opossum and wildcat, sheep wool, 

 bits of green moss scraped from the sides of rocks are all used by various pairs. 

 I have found one nest heavily felted with material which the birds had been 

 picking from an old felt hat and in another lining were bits of rope. Perhaps 

 the most striking nest was one containing a heavy lining of deer hair and flourish- 

 ing on one side of the cavity v/as the entire tail of a deer. ♦ * * 



The Raven is essentially a solitary bird and the nests of different pairs are 

 usually a considerable distance apart. The only pairs I know of which nest at 

 all near to one another are six miles apart I know of no bird which comes into 

 direct contact with the Raven during the breeding season but the Duck Hawk. 

 * * * There seems to be a mutual respect between the two species and though 

 they have occasional disagreements I have known them to nest on ledges only 

 forty feet apart, the Raven having young while the Duck Hawk had eggs. 



Dr. Samuel S. Dickey has sent me some extensive and interesting 

 notes on ravens in various parts of the country, but space vi'ill allow only 

 a few extracts. His notes on Pennsylvania ravens agree very closely 

 with the foregoing quotations from Mr. Harlow's published paper. 

 Out of 17 nests recorded in his notes, 13 were on cliflFs or ledges, 3 

 were in hemlocks at heights varying from 45 to 80 feet, and one was 



