BLACK OR IRIDESCENT BLACK 407 



be dead fish, or snakes, or lizards, or small mammals. 

 Or it may be the eggs or nestlings of other birds ; for 

 the Raven is a cannibal as well as a thief. Young 

 chickens from the farmyard, young quails from the 

 valleys, or young gulls from the cliff are equally prized 

 in the Raven menu. His appearance in any neighbor- 

 hood creates as much consternation among the feathered 

 folk as does a hawk, and with even more reason. 



In about four weeks the young are ready for flight, 

 and their depredations begin under the training of the 

 adults. They learn to sit in watchful silence on the 

 rock where the cormorant has her nest and at the first 

 opportunity snatch the eggs or newly hatched young ; to 

 pick up clams and drop them from a height on the 

 stones, in order to break the hard shells ; to trace dead 

 flesh by a sixth sense, and call their brothers to the 

 banquet. They also learn to splash in the clear, cold 

 water of the mountain stream or lake until every black 

 feather stands out for itself like a quill. When they rise 

 so wet and shiny from this bath in the early morning 

 sunlight, they look like white birds, and they have fooled 

 me more than once, until their loud, hoarse croak from 

 the far distance betrayed them. 



Soon after the young are able to forage for themselves, 

 the family usually disappears from the breeding locality 

 to some valley where food is more easily obtainable. 

 Here, after a few weeks, they separate, the youngsters 

 going about alone and the adult pair remaining together. 

 Throughout the winter and early spring they haunt the 

 ranches of the more southern regions and interior valleys. 



