328 Mr. H. Seebohm on the Ornithology of Siberia. 



CoRvus coRAX, Linn, 



We occasionally noticed Ravens during almost the whole 

 of our long sledge-journey ; but at the Koo-ray'-i-ka they did 

 not appear until the middle of May. After their arrival a 

 day seldom passed without one or more being seen. They 

 seemed to me to be less shy than Ravens usually are, and I 

 had no difficulty in shooting half a dozen to skin, I was 

 told, upon good authority, that in summer they are found as 

 far north as the Russian fishermen go, about lat. 72°. I 

 brought home eight skins of this bird with me. They varied 

 in length of wing, from carpal joint, from 16*2 to 17"2 inches. 

 The exposed portions of the bastard primary varied from 6 to 7 

 inches, and the distance from the end of the first primary to 

 the end of the second primary from 3'o to 4 inches, the 

 bastard primary exceeding in length the end of the inner- 

 most secondaries. 



CoRvus coRNix, Linn. 



During the whole of our long sledge-journey from Nishni 

 Novgorod as far as Tomsk the Hooded Crow abounded on the 

 road-sides ; and in returning during the autumn I found it 

 equally common on the banks of the various rivers which the 

 steamer navigates between Tomsk and Tobolsk, and between 

 the latter town and Tyu-main'. Indeed, so far as my obser- 

 vation goes, the whole of Russia and West Siberia may be 

 described as a vast colony of Hooded Crows. East Siberia, 

 on the other hand, is an equally vast colony of Carrion-Crows. 

 From Kras-no-yarsk' to Yen-e-saisk' I saw nothing but the 

 Carrion-Crow. Middendorff records the same on the Lay'-na, 

 and eastwards to the sea of Okotsk ; and southwards Prje- 

 valsky (pronounced Pshcval'sky) found it common in Mon- 

 golia. The distance between Tomsk and Kras-no-yarsk' is 

 about 550 versts. As you travel eastwards from Tomsk for 

 the first 200 versts the Hooded Crow only is to be seen. 

 During the last 200 versts before reaching Kras-no-yarsk' the 

 Carrion-Crow alone is found. In the intermediate 150 versts 

 about one fourth of the Crows are thoroughbred Hoodies, 

 one fourth are pure Carrion, and the remaining half are 



