400 LIFE HISTOEIES OF NOETH AMEKIOAlSr BIRDS, 



from i)vate to elonoate and cylindrical ovate; the ground color is usually a pale 

 pea green, less often a, drab or greenish olive. They are usually ])r()fusely 

 blotched and spotted with different shades of Ijrown, lavender, and drab. In a 

 number of specimens tlie markings are evenly distril)uted over the entire eg^, 

 in a few cases nearly hiding the ground color; in others they predominate at 

 one of the ends, and an occasional egg is but slightly marked, showing the 

 ground color clearly. One such light-colored egg is often found in sets other- 

 wise heavily marked. The shell is strong and compact and shows little or no 

 gloss. The markings in very rare instances approach the peculiar elongated 

 style so characteristic of the eggs of the White-necked Raven. 



The average measurement of fifty-four eggs in the United States National 

 Museum collection, all Init two taken by myself, is 49.53 by 32.7(3 millimetres, 

 or 1.95 by 1.29 inches. The largest egg of the series measures GO. 45 b}' 37.84 

 millimetres, or 2.38 by 1.49 inches; the smallest, 41.15 by 31.50 miUimetres, or 

 1.62 by 1.24 inches. 



The type specimens, Nos. 20321 and 20325 (PI. 4, Figs. 1 and 2), both from 

 the Bendire collection, Avere taken ])y the writer near Camp Harney, Oregon, on 

 April 22, 1876, and April 26, 1877, respectively, the first from a set of seven 

 eggs, the last from a set of six, and these represent the two principal styles of 

 coloration. 



i6o. Corvus corax principalis Ridgway. 



NORTHERN RAVEN. 



Corvm corax principalis Ridgway, Manual North American Birds, 1887, 3(51. 

 (B 423, part; 220, part; R 280, part; G 338, part; U 48G(t.) 



Geographical range: Northern North America; from Greenland west to Alaska; 

 south to British Golumbia, northern Canada, and Labrador. 



The Northern Raven is admitted to subspecific rank in our avifauna mainly 

 on the claim of having a relatively larger or stouter bill and a shorter and stouter 

 tarsus than the southern bird, with more of the ujjper portions of the tarsus 

 concealed by the feathering of the lower parts of the thighs, tlie plumage gen- 

 erall}' being less lustrous. Ravens are well known to attain a great age, and 

 instances are on record of these birds having lived over a hundred years; 

 variations in plumage may therefore depend to some extent on age. These 

 difterences may possibly prove constant in the far north, to which for the present 

 I prefer to restrict its range. 



Its general habits and call notes resemble those of the American Raven; 

 like it, it lives to a great extent on oftal and refuse of any kind, and is generally 

 most abundant in the immediate vicinity of Indian cainjis and settlements, which 

 are mostly located on the seashore, or on the banks of the larger rivers in the 

 interior, where these birds act as scavengers. This is especially tlie case on 

 the Alaskan Peninsula and on the mainland, where hiuidreds of these birds may 



