108 Wyoming- Experiment Station. 



were skinned, I found that they had made several holes through 

 the dried surface, large enough to admit their heads, and that 

 they had eaten from each opening from one to two pounds of 

 meat and had entirely destroyed the quarters. There are many 

 stories circulating of their petty thieving about camps and <:ar- 

 rying off cooking utensils, etc., but with an acquaintance of 

 upwards of 15 years with the Wyoming birds I have never 

 known them to take anything except edibles. In Wyoming 

 this ■ bird ranges from 6,000 feet up to timber line. Cook 

 (Birds of • Colorado, p. 90) cites this species as breeding at 

 11,500 feet. Since this is 1,500 feet above timber line it is 

 unreasonable to think of this lover of pine trees nesting upon 

 cold isolated peaks, where it would be impossible to secure any 

 food during the breeding period. In Crook county I have 

 taken these birds in August in Rattlesnake canon, at an eleva- 

 tion of about 6,000 feet. In other parts of the state they are 

 usually found between 8,000 and 9,000 feet. There are abund- 

 ant records of this species from all of the mountainous country 

 of the state. 



486. Corvus cdrax sinuatus (Wagl.). 

 Raven. 



Resident; but probably not common. The data collected 

 regarding this species would not furnish any opinion as to the 

 bird's abundance or distribution. Drexel took a specimen at 

 Fort Bridger in 1858 ; Williston saw flocks in winter time at 

 Lake Como, and notes that they were notvery common during 

 summer; Coues reports two specimens from Wyoming; W. 

 N. McGraw took a specimen at Fort Laramie, Sept. 13, 1857. 

 I have often observed these birds in going over the state,, btit 

 find it very difficult to secure specimens. Usually, when one 

 approaches their haunts they utter a few harsh notes and .fly 

 high in the air and remain ^circling about their abodes for 

 hours at a time. 



