THE MEXICAN RAVEN. 



No. 2. 



MEXICAN RAVEN. 



A. ( >. L'. Xo. 486. Cor>iis corax sinuatiis (W'agler). 



Synonyms. — Amkkicax Ran'Kn. Solthkkn Raven. 



Description. — Like preceding but averaging smaller; bill relatively smaller 

 and narrower; tarsus not so stout. Length up to 26 inches, but averaging le.ss. 

 Culnien J. 83 ( 72 ). 



Recognition Marks. — .\s in preceding — distinguishable only by range. 



Nesting. — Xcst: placed on ledge or in crannies of basalt cliffs, more rarely 

 in pine trees. 



General Range. — Western United States chiefly west of the Rocky Moun- 

 tains : in its northerlv extension nearly coincident with the L'pper Sonoran life 

 zone, south to Honduras. 



Range in Washington. — .May be arbitrarily defined as restricted to the 

 East-side, but common only on the treeless jilains and in the ISlue Mountain 

 region. Resident. 



Authorities. — Corz'iis canitTonis Dart., Cooper and Suckley, Re]). Pac. 

 R. R. Surv. XII. i)t. IT. iSOo, p. 210. Bendire, Life Hist. .\. .\. I'.irds, \'ol. 11. 

 p. 396 f. 



IT is no mere association of i<leas which has made the Raxeii the bird of 

 ill omen. Black is his wing, and black is his heart, as well. While it may 

 be allowed that he works no direct damage upon the human race, we cannot 

 but share in sympathy the burden of the bird-world which regards him as the 

 hc'tc iioir. diabolical in cunning, patient as fate, and relentless in the hour of 

 opportunity 



.As I sit on an early May morning by the water's t(\g(^ on a lonely island 

 in the Columbia River, all nature seems harmonious and glad. The Meadow- 

 larks are i)ricking the atmosphere with goads of gtxxl cheer in the sage 

 behind ; the Dove is pledging his heart's affection in the cottonwood hard by : 

 the ri\-er is singing on the rapids; and my bean is won to follow on that 

 buoyant tide — when suddenly .a mother CTOose cries out in terror and 1 Icaji 

 to my feet to learn the cau.se. I have nut long f. 1 wait. Like a death knell 

 comes the guttural croak of the Raven, lie has spied upnn her, learned her 

 secret, swept in when her jjrecious eggs were iuico\ered; and he bears one off 

 in triinnph, — a feast for his carrion broird. Whcp one has seen this sort of 

 thing ;i dozen times, and heard the wail of the wild things, the croak of the 

 Raven comes to be fraught w ith menace, the veritable voice of doom. 



To be sure, the Raven is not really worse than his kin. but he is dis- 

 tinguislied by a bass voice; and does not the villain in the play always sing 

 bass? Somehow, one never believes the ill he hears of the soultui tenor, even 

 tho lie sees him do it ; but beware of the bird or m;m who croaks at low C. 



