Interior of British North America. 85 



portion, that there were upwards of fifty at that one spot : I shot 

 one, which I preserved ('Ibis,' vol. iv. p. 7). 1 found that this 

 was a regular roosting-place, and my friends continued to use it 

 during the entire winter. What also interested me was the won- 

 derful regularity with which they repaired to their roosting-place 

 in the evening, and left it again in the morning, by couples, lor 

 their day's hunt. One pair used to fly directly over the fort 

 regularly every morning ; and as I sat watching for the minute- 

 hand of the chronometer to come round to the hour of observa- 

 tion for the magnetic instruments, they would give a croak or 

 two as a morning salutation, — at any rate I gave them credit for 

 such civility, and noting the time, 1 found it the same, within 

 two or three minutes; but as tne days lengthened, it became a little 

 earlier and earlier each morning. On a cloudy or unusually cold 

 morning they were sometimes a few minutes late, but their usual 

 time was, as near as possible, half an hour before sunrise. In 

 March I observed that the Ravens became restless, and were 

 often to be seen chasing one another in the air, and wheeling 

 about in circles. I also, on some occasions, heard very pi'olonged 

 croaks — more, in fact, approaching to cawing, and I judged that 

 these signs were indicative of the approaching love-season. In 

 April they paired off, and the roosting-place spoken of became 

 deserted. I should be glad to discover if this habit of congre- 

 gating in winter has been observed in any other species. During 

 an excursion which I made on the prairies about a hundred 

 miles south-west of Fort Carlton, in company with a party of 

 hunters who went out to obtain bulfalo-meat for the fort, I found 

 several nests of the Raven, with eggs. One was in a small tree 

 close to a lake, and not more than fifteen feet above it ; it con- 

 tained six eggs, was about a foot in diameter, composed of sticks, 

 and lined with buffalo-hair and, what may seem rather singular, 

 pieces of scarlet cloth ; but these latter had doubtless been picked 

 up about the Indian camping-grounds. 



83. CORVUS AMERICANUS. 



I w^as never fortunate enough to obtain a specimen of the 

 " Barking Crow," or " Rook," as this bird is called, on the Sas- 

 katchawan, where it is only a summer visitor ; M. Bourgeau, 

 however, captured one with its eggs (' ibis,' vol. iv. p. 7). I 



