84 Capt. Blakiston on the Birds of the 



done by the outer tail-feathers being considerably elevated and 

 closed inward above the others, back to back. The eggs vary in 

 the ground-colour from greenish blue to olive. My specimen 

 (' Ibis/ vol. iv. p. 7) was from Fort Carlton. I have received one 

 from Hudson^s Ray ; Mr. Donald Gunn has collected them at Red 

 River Settlement, and Mr. Bernard Ross on the Mackenzie. 



82. CORVUS CARNIVORUS. 



The American Raven (the *^Crow" or "Corbeau" of the 

 English and Canadian half-breeds, and the " Kd-ku-kiu" of the 

 Cree Indians) is very generally distributed throughout the 

 northern interior, but seems most numerous on the buffalo plains 

 of the west. Having lived nearly two years in the Indian 

 country, I have had very frequent opportunities of observing the 

 economy of the American bird, and must exonerate him from 

 the stigma of exclusiveness which ha» been attached by naturalists 

 to the family name from observation of his European brother. 

 " Brother Jonathan " certainly, on the western prairies, is by no 

 means a solitary bird, nor do the Indians inhabiting that region 

 seem to hold any ridiculous ideas of ill omen, or such like super- 

 stitious notions, concerning him; it may be, that being better 

 known, and his hoarse croak so often heard, both in times of plenty 

 and seasons of want, he is regarded more as a familiar friend than 

 anything else. During the day, the Raven is usually met with 

 in pairs, except when the carcase of a dead animal draw^s a number 

 together, or a general slaughter of buffaloes by the Indians affords 

 a repast for all the wolves and ravens of the neighbourhood. 

 At night, however, during winter, they i*epair to some chosen 

 resting-place, usually a clump of trees on the edge of the prairie, 

 and there roost in one immense body. One of such " bedrooms " 

 was only about a mile distant from Fort Carlton, and my attention 

 was first drawn to it by noticing that all the Ravens which I saw 

 about sunset, no matter where I happened to be, were invariably 

 flying towards the same point. Having been out one day with 

 my gun, I made a point of returning to the fort in the evening by 

 that quarter; and I was surprised by finding a clump of aspen- 

 trees, none of which were above twenty-five feet high, or thicker 

 than one's arm, filled with Ravens, which on my near approach 

 took wing and flew round and round. I judged, by counting a 



