240 NUUTIl AMERICAN BIRDS. 



ness iiiid one "on iiiiscliicr lieiit,'' iincl tlioir iiitclli<j;ent watclifulnoss ren- 

 (leruil it (iiiitL- ini|M)ssililc lo iiji|iniiRli thum (i]iuiil_y willi gnu in hand. 



" liavi'iis ai'i" resitlcnt in the logiim about Fort Wliipplu, and their appar- 

 ently diniinislied niiinlier in Muniiner is .simply (hie to tlie iact that tiiey are 

 tli(!n spread over a greater .surt'aee, are lesis re;stless, aiid hetter ]irovided for 

 in the matter of food. In winter, and especially when .snow covered the 

 ground, tla-ir nundiers at the fort were .simply ineahadable. They dotted 

 the ground everywheie during the day, and n)osted in erowd.s on the neigh- 

 boring pines by night. One jiatriarchal tree, that stood somewhat isolated, 

 was a favorite resting-])laee for tiie Itaven.s and Miizzards, and gradually as- 

 sumed a singidar appearance, as if it had been wliitewashed. This great jiine 

 overlooked a little open space where our beeves were slaughtered, and the 

 bani|ueting there was nc^ver ended. All night long the wolves howled and 

 harked as they tugged at the offal, till daylight .sent them reluctant to their 

 rocky fastnesses, when the great dark birds, witii a premonitory .stretching 

 of the wings, tlapiied down to renew the feast. The IJavens and Buzzards 

 seemed to get along very well together, (puirrelling no more with each other 

 than eacli s])eeies did with its own kind ; but in the occasional disputes the 

 smaller birds seemed to liave rather the advantage oi' the heavier and clum- 

 sier gluttons. This com])arative got)d-fe]lowship was in striking contrast to 

 the behavior of Crows towards Turkey liuzzards. 



" The Itaven is not, on the whole, so noisy a bird as the Crow, though he 

 croaks vigortuisly on occasion, and his caw may claim to be impressive, if not 

 agreeable. Hut the (pieer sounds that the bird can utter, if he be so minded, 

 are indescribable; even his onlinary cawing is suscejitible of considerable 

 modulation. A favorite annisement of his, when, his liunger appea.sed for 

 the time, he feels particularly comfortable, is to .settle snugly on the toj) of 

 a pini!-tret, a),i talk to himself 'i':ie performance generally llegin's with a 

 loud caw, self-asserting, followed by a complacent chuckh; ; and then comes 

 a series of comical syllables, so low as to be scarcely audil)le from the ground 

 below, as if he were nnising aloud, and tickled with his own fancies. Then 

 he will raise his voice again, and tile away at some old .saw for a while, finish- 

 ing with the inimitable 'cork-drawing' for which his tribe is famou.s. 



" A liaven that L had slightly wounded in the wing and cajjtured soon 

 became cpiite tame, and developed a variety of amusing traits. Proving 

 rather obtrusive and inconvenient in my narrow ([uarters, I undertook to tie 

 him in a corner with a string round his leg. This ho objected to, and it 

 was astonisinng to .see the ])er.se vera nee he showed in untying any nundier 

 of knots 1 might make. It was a task that .sometimes took him hours, but 

 he never rested until it was done. I had no chain light enough for the ])ur- 

 pose, but I finally got the hetter of him by twisting a wire with the cord. 

 Ilis intelligence did not reach in that direction more than six inches from 

 his leg." 



Mr. Dresser observed the Ifaveu common at San Antonio, frequenting the 



