276 BIRDS OF ONTARIO. 



SUBFAMILY CORVINE. CROWS. 



GENUS CORVUS LINN^US. 

 CORVUS CORAX SINUATUS (WAGL.). 



199. American Raven. (486) 



Entire lustrous black ; throat feathers acute, lengthened and disconnected. 

 Length, about 2 feet ; wing, 16-18 inches ; tail, 10. 



HAB. Continent of North America, from the Arctic Regions to Guatemala, 

 but local and not common in the United States east of the Mississippi River, 



Nest, on high trees or inaccessible cliffs, built of sticks with a lining of 

 coarse grass, sea weed and wool. 



Eggs, four or five, greenish, dotted, blotched and clouded with purplish and 

 blackish-brown. 



Few birds are so widely distributed over the face of the earth, and 

 few have obtained so great a share of notoriety as the Raven, that 

 "grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt and ominous bird of yore." In 

 Southern Ontario it is now seldom seen. The specimen in my 

 collection was obtained at St. Clair Flats some years ago, where it 

 was reported as an occasional visitor in the fall. Wilson, speaking of 

 this species, says : " On the lakes, and particularly in the neighbor- 

 hood of Niagara Falls, they are numerous, and it is a remarkable fact 

 that where they so abound the common Crow seldom appears. I had 

 an opportunity of observing this myself in a journey along the shores 

 of Lakes Erie and Ontario during the months of August and 

 September. The Ravens were seen every day, but I did not see 

 or hear a single Crow within several miles of the lakes." Since the 

 days of Wilson the case has been reversed, and any one travelling 

 now round the lakes named will see Crows in plenty, old and young, 

 but not a single Raven. They are said to be common in the rocky 

 region of Muskoka, where they probably nest on the cliffs. They are 

 believed to continue mated for life, and are often heard expressing 

 their feelings of conjugal attachment in what to human ears sounds 

 but a dismal croak. 4 



The Raven appears so seldom in Ontario that we have little 

 opportunity for becoming acquainted with the habits of the bird. 

 We find, however, that they are tolerably common in Manitoba, 

 while in Alaska they seem to reach their centre of abundance. 

 Referring to them, Mr. Nelson says : " Everywhere throughout the 

 entire territory of Alaska, including the shores of the Arctic Ocean 

 and Behring Sea, this bird is a well-known resident. Here, as in 



