CROW. 329 



the mountains, in its hurried migrations, but does not breed 

 here, and is rarely seen at all except en route for the north, 

 where it nests and establishes "civic relationships." 



TRUE CROWS. 



CORVUS Corax, is the raven. It is not an abundant species, 

 but its gaunt, ugly, black form may occasionally be seen 

 perched on a tall hemlock, or his discordant croak heard, as 

 he heavily wades his way through the air. In all regions a 

 bird of ill omen, he is the special aversion of many " on ac- 

 count of his indiscriminate voracity, sombre livery, discord- 

 ant croaking, ignoble, wild, and funeral aspect." 



The raven is an interesting bird, from his long association 

 in the imagination of man with superstitious fears and pro- 

 phecies of disasters, and if his biographers the ornithologists 

 do not romance, he is really quite wonderful in his instincts 

 and habits. Nuttall remarks, "Though spread over the 

 whole world, they are rarely ever birds of passage, enduring 

 the winters even of the arctic circle, or the warmth of 

 Mexico, St. Domingo, and Madagascar." The raven is 

 patient and devoted in its attachment, and lives to be a 

 hundred years old. 



CORVUS Americanus, crow. This rascally species occurs 

 in numbers through the whole range of the mountain. He 

 is found in flocks, at certain seasons of the year, more or 

 less numerous, and sometimes in hundreds, almost darken- 

 ing the air, and filling the region where he is either fly- 

 ing or roosting, with his noisy cawing. A hardy wretch, 

 he braves the fiercest storms of the Alleghanies, passing his 

 winters in great numbers in the forests. Large flocks collect 

 together and go through certain ranges of country, seeming 

 to have favorite places for roosting. These are generally in 

 dark woods of hemlock and pine, or in deep, sequestered 

 ravines. Flocks are often seen pursuing their flight in the 

 midst of the roughest storms, with the whole air full of fly- 

 ing snow, their jet-black bodies spotting the clouds. They 

 may often be seen stalking over the snow-drifts in search 



28* 



