CROWS, MAGPIES, AND JAYS 



Unusual Intelligence Has Earned a Unique Position 



For These Birds 



By T. Gilbert Pearson 



President of the National Association of Audubon Societies 



With Paintings from Life by Maj. Allan Brooks 



The Geographic presents in this issue the third of a comprehensive series 

 of paintings descriptive of all the important families of birds of North America. 

 The first, "Seeking the Smallest Feathered Creatures (Humming Birds)," ap- 

 peared in the issue for Jidy, ipj2, and the second, "The Large Wading Birds 

 (Herons, Ibises, and Flamingos)," in the issue for October, ipj2. The fourth of 

 the series will be published m an early number of the National Geographic 

 Magazine. — Editor. 



WHILE driving along an unfre- 

 quented road in the semidesert 

 country of southern Oregon, I 

 noticed at a distance two large birds ap- 

 parently engaged in some kind of game. 

 They would fly almost together, then one 

 would dive and quickly mount aloft. Twice 

 he alighted on the ground, but only to rise 

 at once. As we approached, they sepa- 

 rated, one perching on the post of a barbed- 

 wire fence. When we were within 80 

 yards, he flew to a distant post. For half 

 a mile he thus preceded us with short 

 flights. 



This bird was carrying something in his 

 beak. My companion fired his revolver, 

 and the bird dropped an object which 

 proved to be the dried leg bone of a jack 

 rabbit. We had come upon a pair of ravens 

 at a time when they were in one of their 

 playful moods. Sometimes a dozen or 

 more may be seen maneuvering about each 

 other, nose-diving, volplaning, or tumbling 

 about in mimic combats. For the time all 

 dignity is forgotten and the solemn birds 

 present a performance entirely out of keep- 

 ing with what is generally regarded as 

 their usual habits of life. 



THE RAVEN IN FOEKEORE 



Tradition emphasizes the idea that the 

 raven is a dour and somber bird. The 

 shadow of his sable wings falling across 

 the path of a bride foretells disaster. He 

 is sinister and mysterious, and his coarse 

 croakings through the centuries have been 

 thought prophetic and portentous of evil. 



His remarkable sagacity has caused 

 many to believe that he possesses attri- 

 butes of a divine nature, while others think 

 that his uncanny shrewdness is derived 

 directly from the Evil One. Odin, the 

 chief god of the Norsemen, was attended 

 by two ravens, who whispered advice in 

 his ears. It was the raven that Noah first 

 sent forth from the Ark. To Elijah, 

 hiding by the brook Cherith, the ravens 

 brought food. In Wales the legendary 

 hero, Owein, was accompanied by an army 

 of ravens that guarded him from harm. 

 In Ireland, Cii Chulainn had the constant 

 service of two magic ravens to warn him 

 of the coming of his foes. The Greeks 

 were not unmindful of the raven's power. 



Tradition is back of the ravens kept 

 in the Tower of London ; there is meaning 

 in the raven forms carved on the totem 

 poles of Alaska. 



THE PILGRIMS WARRED ON THE RAVEN 



In the world are many thousands of 

 species of birds to which the people pay 

 scant attention. But wherever the raven 

 is found, the inhabitants are aware of his 

 presence, and tell of his weird powers as 

 they gather about the campfire or sit in 

 council in the igloo, the hogan, or the 

 mountain cabin. 



Our raven is merely one of the geo- 

 graphical races of the ravens inhabiting 

 many parts of the Northern Hemisphere. 



The Pilgrim Fathers found him in Mas- 

 sachusetts, but he soon fell into evil repute, 

 for it was discovered he would attack and 



SI 



