The Raven 379 



society. In this manner they may recall the pleasing remembrance 

 of their youthful days, recount the events of their life, and express 

 the pleasure they enjoy. 



"Now, their matins are over; the happy pair are seen to glide 

 towards the earth in spiral lines; they alight on the boldest summit 

 of a rock, so high that you can scarcely judge their actual size; they 

 approach each other, their bills meet, and caresses are exchanged 

 as tender as those of the gentle Turtle Dove. Far beneath, wave 

 after wave dashes in foam against the impregnable sides of the rocky 

 tower, the very aspect of which would be terrific to almost any other 

 creatures than the sable pair, which for years have resorted to it, 

 to rear the dearly-cherished fruits of their connubial love. Midway 

 between them and the boiling waters, some shelving ledge conceals 

 their eyrie. 



"To it they now betake themselves, to see what damage it has 

 sustained from the peltings of the winter tempests. Off they fly 

 to the distant woods for fresh materials with which to repair their 

 breach ; or on the plain they collect the hair and fur of quadruples ; 

 or from the sandy beach pick up the weeds that have been washed 

 there. By degrees, the nest is enlarged and trimmed, and when every- 

 thing has been rendered clean and comfortable, the female deposits 

 her eggs, and begins to sit upon them, while her brave and affection- 

 ate mate protects and feeds her, and at intervals takes her place." 



In general appearance the Raven closely resembles a Crow, but 

 it is larger. A Crow rarely is more than eighteen or twenty inches 

 in length and has an expanse of wings of less than 

 Larger three feet. A Raven is two feet long from bill tip to 



than tail tip and measures four feet or more across when its 



A Crow wings are spread to their full capacity. A close in- 



spection of the two birds reveals a certain marked dif- 

 ference in the shape of the feathers of the neck, those of the Crow being 

 rounded at the ends, while those of the Raven are sharply pointed. 

 In flight the two birds may usually be distinguished, as the Raven 

 has a way of sailing at times to an extent rarely if ever equalled by 

 a Crow. The well-known caw of the Crow is replaced in the case of 

 the Raven with a croak so deep, so unlike any other sound in nature 

 that once heard ct is not easily forgotten. 



As indicated above Ravens build their nests on the ledges of 

 cliffs or in trees. These usually are bulky, and as additional mate- 

 rials are brought year after year they grow in some instances to 

 be very large affairs. The eggs range in number from two to seven. 

 In color they are olive or greenish and thickly spotted and blotched 

 with olive4>rown. Twenty days of -brooding are required to hatch them. 



The Raven's food consists of a wide variety of objects, but evi- 

 dently animal matter predominates. They eat grasshoppers, beetles, 

 lizards, mice and young birds. They are scavengers and feast upon 

 dead animals, both large and small. 



In August, 1916, while working about Malheur Lake in the des- 

 erts of southeastern Oregon, we found Ravens much in evidence. 



