THE BIRDS OF OHIO. 



No. i. 



NORTHERN RAVEN. 



A. O. U. No. 486a. Corvus corax principalis Ridgw. 



Description. — Color, uniform lustrous black; plumage, especially on breast, 

 scapulars and back, showing steel-blue or purplish iridescence; feathers of the 

 throat long, narrow and pointed. Length about two feet, averaging over rath- 

 er than under; wing 17.00-18.00 (431.8-457.2) ; tail 10.00 I 254.) ; bill 3.00 (76.2), 

 depth of bill at nostril 1.00 (25.4). 



Recognition Marks. — Large size, — about twice as large as a Crow ; uniform 

 black coloration ; harsh croaking notes. 



Nest, a large but compact mass of sticks, lined with grass, wool, etc., 

 placed high in trees or upon inaccessible cliffs. Eggs, 2-8, usually 5, pale blu- 

 ish green or olive, spotted, blotched and dashed with greenish brown and ob- 

 scure lilac or purplish. Av. size, 1.80-2. 07 x 1. 30-1. 40 (45.7-52.6x33.-35.6). 



General Range. — Northern North America, south to British Columbia, 

 northern Michigan, New Brunswick, Maine, New Jersey, North Carolina, etc. 



Range in Ohio. — Abundant in Wilson's time along the Lake Erie shore. 

 Now found only in Fulton County (Jones). 



ALTHO so little known to most of us, it seems altogether proper to begin 

 our consideration of the birds of Ohio with one which Professor Alfred New- 

 ton calls "the largest of the Birds of the Order Passeres, and probably the most 

 highly developed of all Birds." The Raven, too, has been until lately, and 

 from time immemorial, one of the most familiar objects within the ken of man. 

 The Aryan herdsman complained to his fellow of the bird's depredations, while 

 the Dorian fishermen of a later day regaled each other with stories of his sa- 

 gacitv alreadv centuries old. Korax, the Greek called him. in imitation of his 

 hoarse cry, Craack, Craack, while the Sanscrit name Karava reveals the ancient 

 root from which have sprung both Crow and Raven. 



