240 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



ness and one " on mischief bent,"' and their intelligent watchfulness ren- 

 dered it quite impossible to ajiproach them openly with gun in hand. 



" Ravens are resident in the region about Fort Whipple, and their appar- 

 ently diminished number in summer is simply due to the fact that they are 

 then spread over a greater surface, are less restless, and better provided for 

 in the matter of food. In winter, and especially when snow covered the 

 ground, their numbers at the fort were simply incalculable. They dotted 

 the ground everywhere during the day, and roosted in crowds on the neigh- 

 boring pines by night. One patriarchal tree, that stood somewhat isolated, 

 was a favorite resting-place for the Eavens and Buzzards, and gradually as- 

 sumed a singular appearance, as if it had been whitewashed. This great pine 

 overlooked a little open space where our beeves M^ere slaughtered, and the 

 banqueting there was never ended. All night long the wolves howled and 

 barked as they tugged at the offal, till daylight sent them reluctant to their 

 rocky fastnesses, when the great dark birds, with a premonitory stretching 

 of the wings, flapped down to renew the feast. The Eavens and Buzzards 

 seemed to get along very well together, quarrelling no more with each other 

 than each species did with its own kind ; but in the occasional disputes the 

 smaller birds seemed to have rather the advantage of the heavier and clum- 

 sier gluttons. This comparative good-fellowship was in striking contrast to 

 the behavior of Crows towards Turkey Buzzards. 



" The Eaven is not, on the whole, so noisy a bird as the Crow, though he 

 croaks vigorously on occasion, and his caw may claim to be impressive, if not 

 agreeable. But the queer sounds that tlie bird can utter, if he be so minded, 

 are indescribable; even his ordinary cawing is susceptible of considerable 

 modulation. A favorite amusement of his, wlien, his hunger appeased for 

 the time, he feels particularly comfortable, is to settle snugly on the top of 

 a pine-tree, and talk to himself The performance generally begins with a 

 loud caw, self-asserting, followed by a complacent chuckle ; and then conies 

 a series of comical syllables, so low as to be scarcely audible from the ground 

 below, as if he were musing aloud, and tickled with his own fancies. Then 

 he will raise his voice again, and file away at some old saw for a while, finish- 

 ing with the inimitable ' cork-drawing ' for which his trilie is famous. 



" A Eaven that I had slightly wounded in the wing and captured soon 

 became quite tame, and developed a variety of amusing traits. Proving 

 rather obtrusive and inconvenient in my narrow quarters, I undertook to tie 

 him in a corner with a string round his leg. This he objected to, and it 

 was astonishing to see the perseverance he showed in untying any number 

 of knots I might make. It was a task that sometimes took him hours, but 

 he never rested until it was done. I had no chain light enough for the pur- 

 pose, l)ut I finally got the better of him by twisting a wire with the cord. 

 His intelligence did not reach in that direction more than six inches from 

 his leg." 



Mr. Dresser observed the Eaven common at San Antonio, frequenting the 



