In North- West Canada. 131 



through trying to collect a clutch of raven's eggs, on the New- 

 foundland coast. The following account of his horrible fate 

 is taken from the " Ornithologist and Oologist." 



" Halifax, N.S, April 27th, 1891.— The body of John C. 

 Gaboon, of Taunton, Mass., the young American naturalist, 

 arrived on the Nova Scotian to-day from St. Johns. He was 

 killed at Shag Roost while hanging over a cliff gathering eggs 

 from a raven's nest. He was rowed to the spot in a dory by 

 two boys, landed with a rifle and rope, and . by means of a 

 detour gained the summit of the cliff, 200 feet above the sea. 

 The boys in the boat saw him take off" his coat, watch and 

 boots and descend by the rope to the shelf of the rock upon 

 which the nest was built. He quickly secured live eggs and 

 held them up for the boys to see, put them in his pocket and 

 commenced to make the ascent. The cliff was an overhanging 

 one, and as he went up his body swayed considerably. At the 

 top the rope bore upon the cliff, and it would appear as if he 

 was unable to get his fingers between the rope and the rock to 

 acquire a hold. He struggled hard for twenty minutes, but 

 could make no headway. The rope, though knotted and loop- 

 ed, gave him no support, and he began to slip downward. He 

 appeared to fold the rope in his arms, as if the palms of his 

 hands were being burned l)y the friction. His descent became 

 more rapid, and he could not land on the shelf from which he 

 had taken the eggs. Faster and faster the poor fellow slid 

 downward till the end of the rope, which swayed loosely 

 above the sea, was reached. His leofs struck acfainst the cliff: 

 the rope jerked outward from the contact, and the unfortun- 

 ate young man fell backward into eternity. His body bounded 

 from the rocks and fell into the sea. The water in the locality 

 was red from blood. The body was recovered next day. Such 

 was the sad end of young Gaboon." 



The raven breeds around the coast of Newfoundland, New 

 Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and in the gulf of St. Lawrence, as 

 well as inland around the shores of the larger lakes, as already 

 stated. The raven is almost cosmopolitan. I have eggs from 

 India, Spain, British Islands, Iceland, and other northern 



