1 1 8 General Notes. 



Twenty-two years afterwards, on the ^Sth of June, 1876, while mowing in 

 the same meadow I found a similar nest of the Bobolink suspended from 

 four stalks of the same species of plant growing in very nearly the same 

 spot. The two specimens of verj unusual and original nidification bore 

 a remarkably strong resemblance and only differed to an appreciable ex- 

 tent in the method of hanging. In the former case — that of 1S54 — the 

 stalks grew naturally at the angles of a square; in the latter — that of 

 1876 — the stalks naturally grew at the angle of a trapezium and were 

 drawn by the ingenious builders to the angles of a square at the points 

 of fastening. The stalk which had to be drawn the farthest from its natural 

 position was stoutly woven into the side of the cup. the weaving material 

 completely covering two joints and the space between them, while in each 

 of the others only one joint was covered and attached simply to the rim. 

 The bottom of this nest was eight inches above the ground and the leaves 

 of the plant overhung the structure forming a very pretty canopy. 



From the fact that these two nest- were found in the same field and in 

 very nearly if not precisely the same spot and upon the same species of 

 plant, it is probable that the avian architects of 1876 were lineal descendants 

 of the builders of 1854. In these productions of the skill of Bobolinks 

 we have evidences of systematic, consecutive thought; of plans well laid 

 and equally well executed. — ELISHA Slade, Somerset. Mass. 



Southern Range of the Raven on the Atlantic Coast ok the 

 United States. — In July, 18S0. I found the Raven to be an inhabitant of 

 Cobb's, Bone, and Mockhorn Islands, off the coast of Eastern Virginia, 

 above Cape Charles. Solitary individuals were observed on one or the other 

 of these islands almost every day during my stay of two weeks, at one lime 

 teased by Red-winged Blackbirds, at another by Black-headed Gulls, and 

 again by Terns, as the Raven happened to approach theirbreedinggrounds. 

 Neither the Common Crow nor the Fish Crow were seen by me on these 

 islands, though they were abundant along the shore of the mainland. As 

 has been my experience elsewhere, the inhabitants did not distinguish the 

 Raven from its smaller congeners, but bv the islanders it was simplv 

 known as the "Crow." The specie- was easily recognized bv its charac- 

 teristic flight and peculiar notes, both of which are quite distinct from 

 those of the Crows. — Robert Ridgwav. Washington, D. C. 



The White-necked Raven (Corvus cryptoleucus) in New Mexico. — 

 Last fall while collecting birds in New Mexico I first noticed a pair of 

 White-necked Ravens at Galisteo: from there on I saw the birds often, 

 but nowhere in numbers until I reached San Marcial (on the Rio Grande, 

 the then terminus of the railroad so rapidly being completed by the A. T. 

 & S. Fe R. R. Co. to Guaymas and El Paso) where I was surprised to 

 find them abundant and, in company with C. corax. flocking about the 

 camping grounds of the graders and other workmen to pick up (as soon 

 as the men were away) the scattered grains where the horses were fed. and 

 from the offal around the tents. I counted one morning at sunrise over 

 a hundred, and with them at least thirty Ravens. 



