LAND BIRDS. A19 
young too small to be of any use as specimens, so they were not molested. 
They were very noisy, and about two weeks old. February 15, 1891, Mr, 
Reed, Mr Reb. Judson and myself again visited the swamp, but did not 
see or heara Raven. March 6, 1892, Me Judson and mnysclf again went 
to ATmena and saw one Raven, but found no nest: this was my last visit 
to the place.” 
Max M. Peet, who aecompanied the University of Michigan expedition 
to Isle Royale, Lake Superior, in the summer of 1905, gives the following 
interesting aecount of the habits of the Raven at that place: “The 
Northern Raven was nowhere conmon but seemed to oecur in limited num- 
hers all over the island, Three were seen in a cedar swamp on July 29, 
and askeleton was found previous to this on the rocks near the lighthouse. 
They were occasionally seen at Siskowit during August, usually flying 
overhead or at some natural clearing near the beach. At Washington 
Harbor they were only visitors, coming every now and then to the clearings 
where they fed on grasshoppers whieh were so abundant. They were 
very wary. While exploring the ruins of the deserted town near the head 
of Siskowit Bay, on September 10, a nest of the Northern Raven was found 
in the old stamp mill Tt was placed in the small hollow formerly occupied 
by the metal plhite upon which the head of the stamp fell. The side walls 
of the stamp mill are broken down in places so that the entranee to the in- 
terior was simple. ‘Phe nest was about four feet square and the deepest 
parl about a foot deep, and was composed of stieks varying in size from 
a quarter ineh to three-quarters in diameter, and a foot to three feet long. 
Several tail-feathers of the Raven were found in different luvers of the nest, 
showing that in all probability the mass was the accumulation of several 
years of nest-building and repairing. Smaller feathers were scattered about: 
(he nest and floor, The lining consisted of small slieks and roots loosely 
laid together, but forming quite a compaeck mass in connection with the 
other material. The floor of the building was strewn with pellets con- 
sisting principally of fishbones, skeletons of small mice, and some insect 
remains, Under some of the ratters (his had accumulated to such an extent 
that the deposit was four or five inches indepth. In places it was weathered 
so badly that if appeared simply as a mass of brownish earth" (Adams’ 
Rep.. Mich. Geol Sury., 1908, pp. 861-862). 
In other parts of the country the Raven frequently nests on cliffs and 
ledges of rock, but where such locations are not to be had it contents itself 
with tall Crees, in whieh it builds a bulky nest, similar to that of the Crow, 
and usually rears ifs young in safety. Necording to Bendire the number 
of eves varies from five to seven, sets of five and six being most common. 
The eges have a ground color of pale pea-green, drab, or greenish-olive, 
and are unusually thiekly and heavily spotted with different shades of 
brown, lavender and drab. The avernge size is 1.95 by 1.86 inches. 
Probably the food of the Raven is almost as varied as that of the Crow, 
vet it is not known to attack cultivated crops of any kind, and the belief 
that it is destructive to young birds, eggs and game is rather an inference 
than the result of observation. At all events its searcity at the present 
time precludes the possibility of its doing serious injury of this kind any- 
where. Possibly it may hang about the nesting places of the gulls and 
terns in our northern waters, and do some mischief by robbing nests, but 
no aelual observations of such pirney have come to our knowledge. 
The ordinary eall note, according to Bendire, is“ craack-craak” varied 
sometimes by a deep grunting “koerr-koerr,” and again by a ‘“clucking, 
