The Birds of El Paso County, Colorado 539 



a marked decrease in their numbers in El Paso County, Colo. 

 The cause of this I do not know unless it is because as the 

 country becomes more thickly settled the solitude they love so 

 well is denied them." Pp. 326-7. 



Since the above was written Aiken has changed his opin- 

 ion as to the cause of the disappearance of the White-necked 

 Raven from this region. Some strong incentive was necessary 

 to have induced these birds to wander northward from their 

 native range in western Texas and New Mexico. This was 

 offered by the slaughter and extermination of the buffalo herds 

 on the western plains which was going on during the late sixties 

 and early seventies. Pioneer settlers were pushing ahead of 

 the railroads ; transportation was by teams, and travelers 

 camped along the roads and fed grain to their stock. The 

 Ravens, probably first attracted by the buffalo carcasses that 

 strewed the northern plains later followed along the routes of 

 team travel and fed on scattered grain left by campers. By 

 1874 the buffalo were nearly gone ; completed railroads had 

 put the wagon freighters out of business ; frequent houses 

 along most roads provided shelter for travelers and camping 

 became unnecessary; the food supply of the White-necked 

 Raven was curtailed and the bird presently retired to its former 

 habitat. 



An unusual record for altitude is California Gulch, Au- 

 gust 27, 1872 (Aiken). 



May 17, 1878, Aiken found on Horse Creek, some sixty 

 miles east of Colorado Springs, in what is now Lincoln County, 

 a nest of the White-necked Raven which contained 7 nearly 

 hatched eggs. Of two other nests of the same species found 

 five days later, one contained 5 half-grown young, and the 

 other 6 (traces of a 7th having been broken) nearly fresh eggs. 

 Nest cup-shaped, inside of hair and wool firmly matted and 

 woven and outwardly built of dry twigs. 



