BIRDS OF 



of the family. In winter its supply of food is very precarious, 

 and it is often reduced to mere skin and bones. At such times 

 it will frequently weigh no more than a plump Sparrow or 

 Snowbird, and undoubtedly it sometimes starves to death. 

 During the latter part of the autumn, its hoarse croaking is 

 almost the only sound to be heard in the cold, sombre forests 

 which lie near the timber line." 



SUBFAMILY CORVIN^E. CROWS. 



GENUS CORVUS LINNAEUS. 



188. CORVUS'CORAX SINUATUS (\VAGL.). 486'. 

 American Raven. 



Entire lustrous black ; throat feathers acute, lengthened and discon- 

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



HAB. Continent of North America, from the Arctic regions to Guate- 

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

 River. 



Nest, on high trees or inaccessible cliffs. 



Eggs, 4 to 5 ; greenish, dotted, blotched and clouded with purplish and 

 blackish-brown. 



Few birds are so widely distributed oyer 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 since, where it was reported as an 

 occasional visitor in the fall. Wilson, when speaking of this 

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

 hood of Niagara Falls, they are numerous, and it is a remark- 

 able 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 Lake Erie and Ontario during the 

 month 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 dny one travelling now round the lakes 

 named will see Crows in plenty, old and young, but not a single 



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