THE RAVEN 



By T. GILBERT PEARSON 



'^e J^ational S^isiomtion of iSlububon ^otittita 



EDUCATIONAL LEAFLET NO. 95 



One July morning, in company wilh Edward H. Forbush and William P. 

 Wharton, I landed on a small wooded island off the coast of Maine to visit a 

 group of Herons said to be nesting there. Clambering up the rocky shore, we 

 proceeded, with some difficulty, through the thick underbrush of the ever- 

 green forest until the heronry was reached. Here the trees were more scatter- 

 ing, and the sun's rays, breaking through, were ripening the thousands of goose- 

 berries that covered the network of vines below. A few pairs of Great Blue 

 Herons were found, and their nests and young soon discovered. The main 

 colony, however, consisted of Black-crowned Night Herons. Approaching a 

 tree where one of their nests was located, I was surprised to find on the ground 

 beneath, the remains of four young birds about one-third grown. The flesh 

 had been picked from the bones, but these were in no way broken, which pre- 

 cluded the possibility of the mischief having been done by a predatory animal, 

 if indeed any such existed on the island. While we stood about discussing the 

 matter, a cry so wild and unusual rang through the damp woods that in an 

 instant our attention was riveted on the sound. Presently it was repeated and 

 was quickly answered from two other directions. 



At once we began a search, which soon resulted in finding that the calls 

 emanated from a family of young Ravens, now well grown, but still attended 

 by their parents. The evidence that the Ravens had destroyed these young 

 Herons was indeed scant. However, I believe all the members of the party, 

 knowing something of the habits of these birds, still regard it as probable that 

 it was the Raven family that had raided the big stick nest in the evergreen 

 trees. That something was feasting liberally on young Night Herons was quite 

 plain, for we found the fresh skeleton remains of at least a dozen of these birds, 

 and a more thorough search of the colony might possibly have revealed others. 

 This was on Bradbury Island, in the year 1914. 



A few days before this. Ravens and a Raven's nest were found on Heron 

 Island. On another occasion, in company with Arthur H. Norton, I was shown 

 a large nest in an evergreen on No-Man's-Land Island, which we were told 

 had been occupied by a pair of Ravens every spring for many years. Ravens 

 may be found also on Old Man, Black Horse, and, in fact, on almost any of the 

 uninhabited islands along the Maine coast. 



In a little opening in the woods back of the Lake Hotel in Yellowstone Park, 

 Wyoming, the garbage from the hotel tables is dumped. Thousands of tour- 

 ists annually visit this dump to see the bears that come out to feed there in the 



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