1889. ] General Notes. 277 ‘| 
says there is no Colorado record for the first-named bird, and speaking 
from recollection, thinks there is none for the second. The birds will 
soon be in Mr. Brewster’s collection—A. Vl THORNE, Capt. 22nd Inft., 
Fort Keogh, Montana. 
The Raven as a South Carolinian. —In 1834, Audubon wrote of the 
Raven in his ‘Ornithological Biography’ (Vol. II, p. 2), ‘‘a few are known to 
breed in the mountainous portions of South Carolina, but instances of this 
kind are rare, and are occasioned merely by the security afforded by inac- 
cessible precipices, in which they may rear their young” Again, onp. 7, 
he says, ‘‘I have already stated that some Ravens breed as far south as 
the Carolinas. The place to which they resort for this purpose is called 
the Table Mountain, which is situated in the district of Pendleton.” Since 
the above was penned, the old ‘‘district” of Pendleton has been partitioned, 
and the portion occupied by Table Rock now forms a part of the County 
of Pickens. 
During the early part of July, 1886, I visited this section, and made 
many inquiries respecting the Raven. I found it was a bird every one 
was familiar with, and that it continued to breed, not only at Table Rock, 
but also on the cliffs of the neighboring mountains. In June of the 
following year I visited the locality.again. AsI was anxious to devote 
all my time to the study of the smaller birds, Idid not make an attempt, 
personally, to secure a specimen, but contented myself with offering a 
liberal reward for one. Iwas recalled home, however, after a week, and 
was unable to return to the mountains until June, 1888. Inthe meantime 
appeared Mr. Ridgway’s ‘Manual of North American Birds’ with its defi- 
nition of the new subspecies pfrezcipalis. The statement concerning the 
uncertainty, through lack of specimens, as to the form inhabiting the 
eastern United States, stimulated my desire for a better knowledge of our 
alpine bird. During my last visit I sufficiently increased the bounty 
offered to put all the hunters of the region on the lookout, but it was not 
until the 27th of the following January that a specimen was secured, which 
was shot in a cove near Mt. Pinnacle while feeding on the carcass ofa 
sheep. This long interval was not owing tothe great rarity of the 
Ravens, but to their excessive wariness. I had been assured by all my 
informants that to capture one was a feat of no small difficulty, and that 
the best opportunity would be afforded where there was carrion. 
A study of the specimen procured led to the conclusion that it could 
not properly be assigned to either priuczPalis or s¢nuatus, it being fairly 
midway between these two manifestations. Desiring the authoritative 
expression of the describer of the new race, I sent the bird to Mr. Ridgway, 
and his identification affirmed the position taken by myself as to its inter- 
mediate character. That an example of this nature should occur is not 
surprising when we consider that the upper country of South Carolina 
forms a sort’ of neutral ground where birds of the East, and many that are 
characteristic of the West, meet. A single specimen, from this region, of 
any bird haying a western conspecific representative is not sufficient evi- 
