THE AMEEICAN EAVBK 399 



even then it was frequently impossible to reach the eggs without the aid of a 

 long pole with a dipper attached to the end. A favorite site Avas a cliflP with 

 a southern exposure, where the nest was completely covered from above by a 

 projecting rock. The nests found here were well constructed, and varied consid- 

 erably in bulk, an average one measuring externally about 18 inches in width 

 by 10 inches in depth. A mass of well-interlaced sticks, some of these very 

 large, formed the groundwork ; the sides Avere lined with and built up of some- 

 what finer material, and the inner cup of the nest, resembling in size and depth 

 a large soup plate, was thickly quilted with a mass of cattle hair and sometimes 

 the dry, fine inner bark of cottonwood. This inner lining was frequently an 

 inch thick, and made a warm, cosy home for the young. They looked clean, 

 but were offensive in odor, and when the nest was occupied the lining was 

 always alive with fleas. In localities where sheep are abundant the inner lining 

 of the nest consists principally of wool, and in mountainous regions of tree moss. 

 Nidification, in the vicinity of Camp Harney at least, usually begins in the 

 first or second week in April, sometimes, however, in the latter part of March, 

 and again not before the middle of May. I obtained a perfectly fresh set of 

 five eggs as late as May 29, 1876, from a locality where none of these birds had 

 been disturbed previously; it was apparently a first laying. 



The American Eaven becomes attached to a site when once chosen, and 

 although its eggs or young may be taken for successive seasons, it will return 

 and use the same nest from year to year. I have taken three sets of eggs (evi- 

 dently laid by the same bird) from the same nest for successive years ; they were 

 readily recognizable by their large size and style of markings. Only one brood 

 is raised in a season. Incubation lasts about three weeks, commencing when 

 the set is completed, and I believe both sexes assist in this labor. "When the 

 female is sitting on the nest the male may frequently be seen perched on some 

 small bush or a dead branch of a tree on the opposite side of the canyon from 

 where the nest is situated, uttering an occasional "klunk-klunk" and keeping a 

 sharp lookout. Should anyone approach in that direction, though some distance 

 off, he Avill warn his mate, uttering a low alarm note while flying past the nest, 

 when she will usually slip ofi" and try to keep out of sight, while he endeavors 

 to draw attention to himself, acting at the same time as utterly unconcerned as 

 if he had no interest whatever in that particular locality. 



The young are able to leave the nest about a month after they are hatched, 

 and are cared for by both parents for some time thereafter. They disappeared 

 shortly afterwards from the immediate vicinity of their nesting sites, and spent 

 the summer months about the shores of Malheur Lake, in Harney Valley, where 

 an abundance of suitable food, such as dead fish, could readily be procured. 



The number of eggs laid to a set varies from five to seven, sets of five being 

 most common and those of six not rare, while among those taken by me were two 

 sets of seven each. These are deposited on alternate days, but sometimes, after a 

 nest which contained one or two eggs only has been examined, no others may 

 be added for a week or more, and then laying is resumed. The eggs vary in shape 



