296 DAVENPORT ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 



Thomas Say notes the raven at Engineers' Cantonment — "the 

 young nearly able to fly May 12, 1820" (lyong's Exp., i, pp. 265 

 -269). Prince Maximilian noted the " Kolkrabe" above the 

 Nishnabotna River May i, 1833, and at the mouth of the Platte, 

 May 3, 1833 (Reise, i, p. 290). Audubon writes May 11, 1843 : 

 " A fine large Raven passed at one hundred yards from us, but 

 I did not shoot [below mouth of Eittle Sioux] " (Journals, i, p. 

 484). 



T. M. Trippe states that " a resident of Decatur county who 

 had become familiar with the Raven in the northwest assures me 

 that he had occasionally seen it in this county " (Pr. Bost. Soc, 

 XV, 1872, p. 240). 



Mr. George H. Berry reports that a correspondent observed a 

 specimen near Rockford, Iowa, in 1900, feeding with Crows. It 

 was also observed to be n^uch larger than the Crows, which makes 

 the record appear probable. 



Kumlien and Hollister report that while the Northern Raven 

 {C. c. priyicipalis Ridgw.) is common at several points along Lake 

 Superior, it has been rarely seen in southern Wisconsin of late 

 years. Nelson found it a rare winter visitant in northern Illinois 

 in 1876 (Birds of Wis., pp. 85-86). Whether any of the Iowa 

 records pertain to this northern and eastern variety can not now 

 be determined. 



210. (488). Corviis brachyrhynchos^.\^.^xt\\\\\. American Crow. 



The Common or American Crow is an abundant resident in all 

 parts of the state. In spring and summertime the Crows are less 

 gregarious than at other times, but in winter they usually con- 

 gregate in large flocks, patrolling wide areas of country daily in 

 .search of food and at night returning to regular roosting places 

 where hundreds or thousands may spend the nights. J. W.Preston 

 records a roost near Baxter, Iowa, where during the winter of 1891- 

 92 the number was estimated at forty thousand birds. He notes 

 many birds dying of starvation, due to blindness from freezing of 

 the cornea in severe weather (Bendire, Life Hist. N. A. Birds, ii, 

 409-410). 



The Crow is omnivorous, and the question of its economic 

 value or in juriousness has been much discussed. The Crow pulls 

 up much corn in the springtime, but he destroys multitudes of cut- 



