124 THE Brrps Axsout Us. 
picion by all people other than naturalists, is an 
abundant bird in the West, and quite rare in the At- 
lantic seaboard States, except in scattered localities 
immediately on the coast and among the mountains. 
Raven. 
Some years ago a family of seven ravens had their 
home in a magnificent cedar and holly forest on the 
Jersey coast. Wandering aimlessly about,—it was in 
June,—I came upon them suddenly, and their strange 
cries were thoroughly weird and unbirdlike. I 
thought then how readily they might be considered 
as words of any spoken language; and later, that 
same day, as I was watching the storm-clouds gath- 
ering over the ocean, from out them came these same 
ravens, calling aloud as they approached and uttering 
cries as they passed over my head and made for their 
home in the woods. It is not strange that supersti- 
tion has invested them with wickedness, and laid at 
their door the blame for many a misfortune. 
The Western White-necked Raven does not differ 
essentially in its habits. 
