THE RAVEN. 415 



foumllancl, and Labrador. It begins as early as February or IMarch to form 

 its nest, which is placed in the thickest part of a fir tree, near the trunk, and 

 at a height of from five to ten feet. The exterior is composed of dry twigs, 

 with moss and grass ; and the interior, which is Hat, is formed of fibrous 

 roots. The eggs, which are from four to six, are of a light-gray color, 

 faintly marked with brown." 



This bird is nut generally so well known as the preceding. We have had 

 numerous opportimities for obser\ing its habits, and we can positively affirm 

 that it is eijually rapacious and destructive with the Blue Jay, which it re- 

 sembles in motions and cry. 



We once knew of a single pair of these birds destroying the young in 

 four nests of the Common Snowbird (•/. hijemalis) in a single day. We 

 found these in an old, abandoned lumber-road on tiie morning of June 

 20; in the afternoon, when we returned through the same patli, every 

 nest was de[)opulated, and a pair of these Jays were liu'king in the trees, 

 shouting defiance at us, while surrounded by the afflicted Snowbinls, that 

 were uttering their cries of complaint and sorrow. The familiarity with 

 which this species fraternizes with man in the woods is interesting and amus- 

 ing. We were once "snowed in," as the expression is, in a large tract of 

 forest, and, with our companions, were obliged to wait until the storm had 

 ceased before we could resume our march. We remained in camp two days. 

 A pair of these birds, probably with joung in the neighborhood, visited our 

 camp, and even penetrated into our tent for crumbs and pieces of bread. 

 They always flew off with their mouths full, and soon returned f(5r more : 

 their visits soon got to be anything but a joke, [)articularly when tliey flew 

 off with the last piece of our soap. We couIdn"t kill them, however; for 

 anything witli life was company, and we felt that we had none of that to 

 spare. 



Tiie C'orri)>rr, or Crows proper, constitute a very large and widely distrib- 

 uted group; in it are placed the Ravens, the Crows, the Tree Crows, the 

 jNIagpies, tlie Fruit Crows, and many others. (_)ar limits will [)revcnt a con- 

 sideration of more than one or two species. The Raven of Euro[)e and that 

 of America are almost identical ; in fact, some writers have classed them as 

 of the same species : the former bird is generally distributed throughout 

 Europe, and the other is found in many portions of this continent. 



They are both well known : their food consists of the eggs and young of 

 other birds, grains, insects, reptiles, — in short, almost everything edible. 

 They have been known to attack lambs, and pick out their eyes, and to 

 pounce upon and kill young chickens and other domestic poultry. An in- 

 stance is on record of a fight between a raven and gamecock, in which the 

 raven was victor, killing his antagoiiist with a powerful stroke of the bill. 



