THE RAVEN 



By T. GILBERT PEARSON 



THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF AUDUBON SOCIETIES 

 Educational Leaflet No. 95 



One July morning in company with Edward H. Forbush and 

 William P. Wharton I landed on a small wooded island off the 

 coast of Maine to visit a group of Herons said to be nesting there. 

 Clambering up the rocky shore we proceeded with some difficulty 

 through the thick underbrush of the evergreen forest until the her- 

 onry was reached. Here the trees were more scattering and the sun's 

 rays breaking through were ripening the thousands of gooseberries 

 that covered the canopy of the vines below. The main colony consisted 

 of Black-crowned Night Herons. Approaching a tree where one. of their 

 nests was located I was surprised to find on the ground beneath the 

 remains of four young birds about one-third 'grown. The flesh had been 

 picked from the bones, but these were in no way broken, which precluded 

 the possibility of the mischief having been done by a predatory animal, 

 if indeed any such existed on the island. While we stood about dis- 

 cussing the matter, a cry, so wild and unusual rang through the 

 damp woods that in an instant our attention was rivetted on the 

 sound. Presently it was repeated and was quickly answered from 

 two other directions. 



At once we began a search, which soon resulted in finding that 

 the calls emanated from a family of young Ravens now well grown, 

 but still attended by their parents. The evidence 

 that the Ravens had destroyed these yonng Herons A 



was 'indeed scant. However, I (believe all the mem- Troublesome 

 bers of the party, knowing something of the habits of Neighbor 

 these birds, still regard it as probable that it was the 

 Raven family that had raided the big stick nest in the evergreen trees. 

 That something was feasting li'berally on young Night Herons was quite 

 plain for we found the fresh skeleton remains of at least a dozen of these 

 birds, and a more thorough search of the colony might possibly have 

 revealed others. This was on Bradbury Island in the year 1914. 



A few days before this Ravens and a Raven's nest were found 

 on Heron Island. On another occasion in company with Arthur H. 

 Norton I was shown a large nest in an evergreen on No-Man's-Land 

 Island which we were told had been occupied by a pair of Ravens 

 every spring for many years. Ravens may be found also on Old 

 Man. Black Horse, and in fact, on almost any of the uninhabited 

 islands along the Maine coast. 



In a little opening in the woods back of the Lake Hotel in Yellow- 

 stone Park, Wyoming, the garbage from the hotel tables is dumped. 

 Thousands of tourists annually visit this dump to see the bears that 

 come out to feed there in the evening. This garbage heap affords 

 another interest to the bird-student, for gulls come up from the Lake 



