The Raven 191 



evening. This garbage-heap affords another interest to the bird-student, for 

 Gulls come up from the Lake and settle here in quest of food, and not infre- 

 quently the hoarse croak of the Raven may be heard in the trees nearby. In 

 fact, these great black birds come at irregular intervals all during the summer 

 to pick up such scraps of food as strike their fancy. 



In August, 1916, 1 saw a Raven feeding her three young with scraps picked 

 up at a garbage-heap back of a hotel on the western verge of the Glacier National 

 Park in Montana. Although aware that she was being watched, the old Raven 

 would unhesitatingly come to the garbage-heap, walk around until she found 

 something that suited her taste, and then fly with it to the trees 50 yards away. 

 Apparently she would not suffer her young to leave the shelter of the forest. 

 The wide range of the croaks and cries made by their young was astonishing. 



Anyone who may chance to be in the mountains of western North Carolina 

 and may desire to see Ravens can usually have his wish gratified by going 

 out to some of the remote settlements and visiting the places where cattle are 

 slaughtered for market. Sometimes as many as eight or ten Ravens gather 

 around a slaughter-pen and with evident impatience await their opportunity 

 for a banquet. 



From the above references it may be seen that the Raven has a wide range 

 in the United States. In fact, there are few states north of South Carolina and 

 Louisiana where it may not be seen, although its range is far more restricted 

 than in former times. Many of the early writers speak of seeing Ravens in 

 territories not now inhabited by them. For example, Thomas Lawson, Gentle- 

 man, who visited the coast country of Carolina in the year 1700, writes of seeing 

 it there. Today Ravens rarely, if ever, occur east of the mountainous portions 

 in the Carolinas. 



Regarding the habits and manners of the Raven during the nesting-season, 

 John James Audubon has given this description in his usual picturesque lan- 

 guage : 



"Their usual places of resort are the mountains, the abrupt banks of rivers, 

 the rocky shores of lakes, and the cliffs of thinly-peopled or deserted islands. 

 It is in such places that these birds must be watched and examined, before one 

 can judge of their natural habits, as manifested amid their freedom from the 

 dread of their most dangerous enemy, the lord of creation. 



"There, through the clear and rarified atmosphere, the Raven spreads his 

 glossy wings and tail, and, as he onward sails, rises higher and higher each bold 

 sweep that he makes, as if conscious that the nearer he approaches the sun, the 

 more splendent will become the tints of his plumage. Intent on convincing his 

 mate of the fervour and constancy of his love, he now gently glides beneath 

 her, floats in the buoyant air, or sails by her side. Would that I could describe 

 to you, reader, the many musical inflections by means of which they hold con- 

 verse during these amatory excursions ! These sounds doubtless express their 

 pure conjugal feelings, confirmed and rendered more intense by long years of 



