578 



2 



in Africa C. corax selects indiscriminately trees and ledges, even where trees are few. The egg 

 is decidedly larger than that of the Carrion-Crow, but smaller than the Raven's. All our spe- 

 cimens are rather lighter in colour than the ordinary run of Raven's eggs. Near the mouth of 

 the Jordan I secured a specimen of the Brown-necked Raven just as it reached the shore, which 

 had evidently traversed the lake from the south ; and during our slow progress down the west 

 shore of the Dead Sea it was of daily occurrence." Mr. C. W. Wyatt met with it on the Sinaitic 

 peninsula, where, he says, it is common, and universally distributed. In Egypt it is the Raven 

 of the country, and is common and generally distributed. Captain Shelley writes (B. of Egypt, 

 p. 158) as follows : — " This Raven is very plentiful throughout Egypt and Nubia. It prefers 

 desert and rocky districts to the more cultivated parts, and may frequently be seen near the 

 Pyramids, on which it yearly builds. Like the common Raven it nests both on rocks and trees, 

 in the latter instance usually selecting the crown of some lofty date-palm. It is essentially a 

 desert-bird, and therefore not to be met with in the Delta." Both Mr. E. C. Taylor and Mr. L. 

 Stafford Allen also record it from Egypt ; and the former says that it is one of the few birds he 

 saw at Suez, and he met with a flock of at least a dozen of these Ravens near the Pyramids of 

 Dashoor. Messrs. Finsch and Hartlaub (Vog. Ost-Afr. p.. 374) write respecting its range as 

 follows: — "South of 13° N. lat. it is by no means a rare species. It occurs in Egypt, Nubia, 

 Sennaar, Kordofan, and the coast-regions of the Red Sea, where, according to Von Heuglin, it is 

 met with in the Somali country." Von Heuglin writes also (Orn. N.O.-Afr. p. 506) that he has 

 seen specimens from the coast of Abyssinia, and in a collection from Tigreh ; but Mr. Blanford 

 did not meet with it in Abyssinia. It does not occur at all in North-west Africa. 



To the eastward it occurs as far as Baluchistan, where Mr. Blanford met with it, and writes 

 as follows : — This is the only Crow of Baluchistan, and is rather a Crow than a Raven in its 

 habits (according to the manners of Eastern rather than of European members of the genus), 

 being a common scavenger about habitations. Most of the specimens were shot about my camp. 

 It is perfectly familiar and fearless. I thought I once saw the same Crow on the Persiau 

 plateau, a little east of Shiraz ; but I was not certain, and it was certainly very rare." 



This Raven appears to be essentially a desert-bird, and is wanting in the mountainous 

 districts of the countries which it inhabits, being, however, tolerably numerous in the true 

 desert. Von Heuglin remarks (/. c.) that it is also seen in the villages, date-gardens, and durra- 

 fields, and is usually met with at the caravan halting-places, where it may frequently be seen 

 perched on a camel or buffalo searching after insects. He describes its note as somewhat 

 resembling that of the Raven, and compares it to a deep short note which may be produced 

 by clucking or croaking with the tongue. When the dates are ripe in Nubia flocks of this Raven 

 collect, he says, in the date-groves and feed greedily on this fruit ; and it not unfrequently feeds 

 on maize. 



The Brown-necked Raven breeds either in the rocks or else in trees. As above stated, 

 Canon Tristram never found its nest in a tree; but Dr. A. E. Brehm found it breeding in 

 January and February, the nests being placed in large mimosas ; and Mr. E. C. Taylor, who 

 found it near Assouan, writes (Ibis, 1867, p. 66) as follows: — "This bird makes its nest some- 

 times in rocks, sometimes in the centre of the crown of a date-palm (Phoenix dactylifera), in 

 which position I found a nest early in March, near Assouan, containing four eggs. I took 



