DELAWARE VALLEY ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB. 13 



My first acquaintance with the Raven began on April 13, 

 1909. We were walking through the Nittany Valley about a 

 mile southeast of State College wnen suddenly a hoarse, rolling 

 "crrruck" came to my ears. Even before I turned I realized 

 that it was the bird I had been looking for, and I was not dis- 

 appointed. About sixty yards off a Raven flew slowly by, 

 frequently uttering its harsh note and closely pursued by an 

 irate Crow. The difference in size between the birds was notice- 

 able at once, the Raven being apparently twice as large as its 

 tormentor. Again on the following day a bird was seen 

 under nearly the same conditions, and each time it disappeared 

 in the direction of the Nittany Mountains. The appearance of 

 these birds interested me greatly, as I had heard previous re- 

 ports of their occurrence back in the Tussey Mountain range. 

 The result was that April 17, 1909, found me, in company with 

 a friend, working my way along the ridge of the first range of 

 mountains. The mountains at this point are some three or 

 four miles distant from the town of State College, and are in 

 the form of rather regular ridges, rising to a height of 1600 to 

 1900 feet above sea level. Several of the ridges have abrupt 

 gaps, the sides of which are very rough, and in some places 

 fairly large crags jut out from their sides. The country is for 

 the most part denuded of timber, though the lower slopes and 

 the gaps still support a few small stands of Pitch, White and 

 Table Mountain Pines, while Hemlock, Black and Chestnut 

 Oaks are rather common. We worked our way slowly along 

 the crest of the ridge, and inspected several rocky shelves in 

 vain. Finally we arrived at one of the gaps, and looking across 

 to the opposite side I beheld a fairly large cliff ornamented with 

 suspicious white splashes. Closer inspection showed a large 

 nest in among the shelving rocks, and we hurriedly climbed 

 across to the spot. At the point where the nest was placed, the 

 crag was perhaps 35 feet in height, and the nest was built on a 

 small projecting ledge completely sheltered from above. Though 

 not inaccessible, it was up about 12 feet, and was extremely hard 

 to reach. The nest was a large affair, fully a yard across on 

 the outside, and was firmly built into the crevices of the rocks. 

 Externally it was composed of dead sticks, some of them three- 



