18 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 



State College, and its general inaccessibility, made continued 

 observation difficult, yet it would seem that one egg is deposited 

 each day, and that the female remains on the nest during cold 

 weather from the time the first egg is deposited. As is usually 

 the case, the eggs seem to be deposited in the morning. 



The Raven seems to disgorge indigestible food materials, much 

 after the manner of our Raptores, as numbers of pellets lay 

 under the nest. T}^e pellets contained remains of crayfish, 

 mice, several berries of Juniper, as well as the bones and hair 

 of the Alleghany Wood Rat, of which there was a den in the 

 clifl. About the nest at least the Raven is not as silent as the 

 books would have him, for I have heard the male and female 

 calling back and forth for fully half an hour at a time, and 

 under such circumstances the notes were soft and actually pleas- 

 ing. However, as soon as they discerned a person, the tones 

 changed to the hoarse, rolling, guttural ' ' crrruck ' ' which is so 

 characteristic of the bird. They seem closely attached to each 

 other during the nesting season, and exhibit much solicitude 

 over the welfare of the nest and its contents. At such times the 

 proverbial wariness was not much in evidence, as they frequently 

 soared within thirty feet of our heads, calling violently. How- 

 ever, at other times they would stay high up in the air, and 

 nearly always would soon fly off and perch side by side on a 

 big dead stub where they had a clear view of the cliff. The 

 flying powers of this bird are marvelous. Time and again I 

 have seen the male circle high up, never moving a wing, and 

 then come twisting and gyrating almost straight down until it 

 seemed he must strike the earth, when he would suddenly veer 

 up and sail off. At times their flight resembles that of a Crow, 

 but when soaring they could not possibly be mistaken, and they 

 almost resembled the Duck Hawk in their mad dashes when 

 the nest was threatened. Taken all in all, the Raven possesses 

 far more versatility than he is given credit for having, and my 

 meagre acquaintance with him is treasured, not only for it& 

 ornithological value, but the pleasure of gaining an insight into., 

 the home life of one of our least understood birds. 



