228 



BIRDS OF AMERICA 



localities are often used by from two to half a 

 dozen pairs, and the same birds will resort to 

 these places for many years. In the desert 

 regions they eat dead jack rabbits and such other 

 flesh, either fresh or putrid, as may be dis- 

 covered. 



One may see Ravens any summer about the 

 garbage piles back of some of the hotels in the 

 Yellowstone and Glacier national parks. Here 

 they come to share with the bears the refuse 

 from the hotel kitchens. They possess an aston- 

 ishing variety of coarse cries, grunts, and screams 

 which one may enjoy if in the neighborhood of 

 a pair that are attending to the wants of their 

 offspring. The Raven is found generally 

 throughout Canada and the States of the North- 

 west. 



A closely allied species is the Northern Raven 

 Corvits cora.v principalis which also inhabits 

 Canada but comes down into eastern United 

 States, breeding as far south as the southern 

 Alleghenies. In the North Carolina mountains 



they are common residents in some sections. 

 Here they come regularly to rural slaughter pens 

 in quest of food. Among the evergreen-covered 

 islands off the coast of Maine I have found 

 several of their nests. These are all built in trees 

 and never more than one pair of Ravens breed on 

 any one island. Farther north in Newfoundland 

 and along the Labrador coast they seem to prefer 

 cliffs overlooking the sea as places in which to 

 establish their eyries. 



T. Gilbert Pearson. 



Probably the food of the Raven is almost as 

 varied as that of the Crow, yet it is not known 

 to attack cultivated crops of any kind, and the 

 belief that it is destructive to young birds, eggs, 

 and game is rather an inference than the result 

 of observation. Its scarcity precludes the possi- 

 bility of its doing serious injury of this kind any- 

 where. There is a strong possibility that it fre- 

 quents the nesting places of the Gulls and Terns 

 and does some mischief by robbing nests. 



WHITE-NECKED RAVEN 

 Corvus cryptoleucus Couch 



A. O. U. Number 487 



General Description. — Length, 20 inches. Prevail- 

 ing color, black. Wing, long and pointed ; tail, much 

 -shorter than wing; bill, compressed, higher than broad; 

 feet, stout. 



Color.— Plumage, glossy black, the upper parts (ex- 

 cept hindneck) with a violet sheen, the under parts 

 faintly glossed with bluish ; feathers of neck, lower 

 throat, chest, and breast with basal half or more 

 (concealed) pure zvhitc ; iris, brown. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest: Located in trees or bushes, 

 usually at no great height from the ground : constructed 

 of sticks, twigs, and grass. Eggs: 4 to 7. pale bluish- 

 green spotted with brown and profusely streaked with 

 zig-zag lines of olive-gray. 



Distribution.— Great Plains, from southeastern Wyo- 

 ming and western Nebraska, southward to central 

 Mexico; westward through New Mexico and Arizona 

 to coast of southern California. 



This is a bird of the hot southwestern deserts 

 and valleys where it is commonly called a 

 " Crow," presumably because some of its habits 

 are Crow-like. Certainly it bears little outward 

 resemblance to the almost universally known 

 bird of that name, though it is indeed a member 

 of the same great family. 



Where these interesting birds have not been 

 molested, they are usually quite tame and 

 friendly. Under these conditions they pay little 

 heed to the approach of a wagon or a man on 

 horseback ; and they often come about the school- 

 houses to pick up the remains of the children's 



luncheons; but after being shot at they become 

 very timid and suspicious. Even in this mood, 

 however, they are often easily attracted witliin 

 shot by almost any kind of decoy which will 

 appeal to their characteristic Crow curiosity. 

 One collector got all the specimens he needed by 

 tossing into the air a red bandana handkerchief 

 tied around a stone, the result being that he was 

 almost mobbed by the Ravens though he was 

 standing in plain sight. 



In winter these Ravens show another family 

 characteristic by gathering into flocks; and they 

 are often seen in groups on the mesas, even 



