THE MEXICAN RAVEN. 



grunting koerr-kocrr. and again liy a clucking, a sort of self-satisfied sound, 

 difficult to reproduce on paper: in fact tliey utter a variety of notes when at 

 ease and undisturl>ed. among others a nietaUic sounding klitiik, which seems 

 to cost them considerable efft)rt. In phices wiiere tliey are not molested they 

 become reasonably tame, and I have seen Ravens occasionally alight in my 

 yard and feed among the chickens, a thing I have never seen Crows do. * * * 

 "Out of some twenty nests examined only one was placed in a tree. It 

 was in a good sized dead willow, twentv feet from the gmund, on an island 



M:>iING H.-VU-N'T OF THK MEXICAN RAVEN. 



in Sylvies Ri\er. Oregon, and easily reached; it contained li\c fresh eggs on 

 April 13, 1875. The other nests were placed on cliffs, and, with few excep- 

 tions, in positions where they were comparatively secure. I'sualK- the nest 

 could not be seen from above, and it generally took .several assistants and 

 strong ropes to get near them, and c\en then it was frequently impossible to 

 reach the eggs without the aid of a long iK>le with a dipper^attached to the end. 

 A favorite site was a cliff with a southern exposure, where the nest was com- 

 pletely covered from al)ove by a projecting rock." 



Having once chosen a nesting site, the Ravejis evince a great attachment 

 for that particular locality; and, rather than desert it. will avoid notice by 

 deferring the nesting season, or by visiting the eggs or yoimg onlv at night. 



We have no records of the taking of Raven's eggs in Washington, but it 



