NATURAL HISTORY.— BIRDS 



265 



19. Everywhere common, a well-known camp prowler. Whis- 

 key jacks are often caught by the natives in snares and tortured 

 in various ways on account of their supposed evil influence on 

 sailing winds. 1 



486a. Corvus corax principalis Ridgw. Northern Raven. 



Ka-ka-ge-o, C. 

 Six specimens; Grand Rapids, two, Sept. 21-Nov. 26; Fort 

 Smith, one 3, June 28; Rae, one 6, one ?, one juv.?, August 3-18. 

 Not uncommon throughout this region; a winter resident at the 

 fishery refuse heaps at Grand Rapids, but I have not seen it in 

 summer at that station; a rare winter resident at Rae. We 

 saw several ravens perched on the "mud cliffs" between the 

 mouth of the Mackenzie and Herschel Island. The raven is 

 called "crow" in the North. 



~ 488. Corvus americanus And. American Crow. 



A-ha-cu, C. 

 One specimen, 4; Grand Rapids, Sept. 13. Common. Rich- 

 ardson places the northern limit of range of the " barking 

 crow" at "The Rapids" or Providence. 2 Mr. Hodgson, of the 

 Hudson's Bay Company, who traveled up and down the Mac- 

 kenzie each summer for many years, assured me that he had 

 never seen the crow below the " Head of the Line." Mr. Mc- 

 Connell states 3 that the barking crow made its appearance at 

 Simpson on the 20th of May, in 1888. 



491. Nucifraga Columbiana (Wits.). Clarke's Nutcracker. 



Three specimens, $; Crow Nest Pass, March 28-April 12. 

 Common. 



___ 495. Molothrus ater ( Bodd.) . Cowbird. 



Five specimens, 6, one ?, three juv.; Grand Rapids, Sept. 13- 

 Oct. 27. Abundant. 



497. Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus (Bonap.). 



One seen at Chippewyan. 



1 See p. 36, ante. 



* Arctic Searching Expedition, p. 102. 



3 Ann. Rep. Geo. Sur. of Canada^ Vol. IV, p. 86d. 



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