382 HISTORY OF THE 



flocks show no attachment outside of the mated pairs, except 

 when one is wounded or in trouble and calls for help. 



They are very intelligent, easily tamed, and capable of learn- 

 ing many tricks, and would be entertaining pets were it not for 

 their thieving propensities. Pages of interesting anecdotes 

 could be given showing that the birds are capable of thinking, 

 yes, reasoning well. 



Their nests are placed on the sides of high, precipitous cliffs 

 and in trees; a coarse, bulky structure of sticks, lined with 

 grasses, hairs, and sometimes bits of wool and moss. Eggs, 

 1.88x1.30; light greenish blue, thickly spotted and blotched 

 with purple and blackish brown, in some cases chiefly at larger 

 end; in form, oval to ovate. A set of five eggs, taken March 

 24:th, 1884, from a nest on the side of a high, steep, rocky bank, 

 on the beach, in northwestern Lower California, measure: 1.88 

 xl.26, 1.88x1.30, 1.90x1.30, 1.91x1.30, 2.00x1.30. 



Corvus cryptoleucus (COUCH). 



WHITE-NECKED RAVEN. 

 PLATE XXIV. 



A resident in the western part of the State; rare; quite com- 

 mon during the fall and winter, but decreasing in numbers as 

 the settlements increase. Begin laying in May. 



B. 425. R. 281. C. 339. G. 142, 186. U. 487. 



HABITAT. Southwestern United States and table lands of 

 Mexico; north to southern Wyoming on the Pacific side I 

 can find no mention north of southern California; east to the 

 edge of the Plains; south to about latitude 20. 



SP. CHAK. "The fourth quill longest; the third and fifth equal; the second 

 longer than the sixth; the first about equal to the seventh. Glossy black, with 

 violet reflections; feathers of neck all round, back and breast, snow white at 

 the base; feathers of throat lanceolate; bristly feathers along the base of the 

 bill, covering it for nearly two-thirds its length." 



Stretch of 

 Length. wing. Wing, Tail. Tarsus. Bill. 



Male 21.00 43.00 14.25 8.50 2.35 2.20 



Female... 19.50 41.50 13.50 8.00 2.30 2.20 



Iris dark brown; bill, legs, feet and claws black. 



