BLACK OR IRIDESCENT BLACK 407 
be dead fish, or snakes, or lizards, or small mammals. 
Or it may be the eggs or nestlings of other birds ; for 
the Raven is a cannibal as well as a thief. Young 
chickens from the farmyard, young quails from the 
valleys, or young gulls from the cliff are equally prized 
in the Raven menu. His appearance in any neighbor- 
hood creates as much consternation among the feathered 
folk as does a hawk, and with even more reason. 
In about four weeks the young are ready for flight, 
and their depredations begin under the training of the 
adults. They learn to sit in watchful silence on the 
rock where the cormorant has her nest and at the first 
opportunity snatch the eggs or newly hatched young ; to 
pick up clams and drop them from a height on the 
stones, in order to break the hard shells; to trace dead 
flesh by a sixth sense, and call their brothers to the 
banquet. They also learn to splash in the clear, cold 
water of the mountain stream or lake until every black 
feather stands out for itself like a quill. When they rise 
so wet and shiny from this bath in the early morning 
sunlight, they look like white birds, and they have fooled 
me more than once, until their loud, hoarse croak from 
the far distance betrayed them. 
Soon after the young are able to forage for themselves, 
the family usually disappears from the breeding locality 
to some valley where food is more easily obtainable. 
Here, after a few weeks, they separate, the youngsters 
going about alone and the adult pair remaining together. 
Throughout the winter and early spring they haunt the 
ranches of the more southern regions and interior valleys, 
