Breeding of the Raven in Pennsylvania 



BY RICHARD C. HARLOW 



One of the attractive features of field ornithology is its uncer- 

 tainty. One never knows when some rarity may cross his path. 

 Our list of spring transients may seem unusually complete until 

 a passing glimpse of some long-sought rarity dims the luster of 

 all our other observations and stamps this day as the red-letter 

 day of the year. 



So in all my field experiences in Pennsylvania and New 

 Jersey the early springs of 1909 and 1910 stand out in bold 

 relief— the seasons when I discovered the nest of the Northern 

 Raven. 



Before considering my experiences in detail it may be well to 

 review the status of this bird in the State of Pennsylvania. The 

 consensus of opinion seems to be that it is a rare breeder at the 

 present time anywhere in the United States south of Maine, 

 though it still nests regularly on the rocky islets off the coast of 

 that State and thence northward to Labrador and Greenland and 

 northwestward to Alaska. Mr. A. R. Dugmore in 1900 goes so 

 far as to say that he has been unable to find an authentic record 

 of its breeding within the United States, but several records for 

 Maine were published in the Auk prior to that date, as well as 

 one for the pine barrens of New Jersey. Since that date Mr. 

 Herman Behr and Mr. Witmer Stone obtained a deserted nest 

 irom the top of a spruce tree in Garrett County, Maryland, just 

 below the Pennsylvania hne, which was presented to the Dela- 

 ware Valley Club collection, and Mr. Behr's observations on its 

 construction were published in Cassinia. In the Auk, for July, 

 1905, Mr. C. W. G. Eifrig also describes a nest near Cumberland, 

 Maryland. 



The only nest actually found in Pennsylvania of which I can 

 secure any definite evidence is one discovered a number of years 



(11) 



