64 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



NORTHERN RAVEN (Corvus corax prin- 

 cipalis) 



The raven looks like a large crow. Although 

 it appears to be about twice the size of its smaller 

 relative, as a matter of fact it is not. The com- 

 mon crow is from 17 to 21 inches long from bill 

 tip to tail tip. Ravens vary from twenty-one and 

 a half to twenty-six and a half inches. The raven 

 is always heavier, the head and beak are stouter, 

 the feathers on the throat are pointed and not 

 rounded, and the cry is a deep-voiced croak that 

 is unmistakably different from any note which a 

 crow can produce. It is a bird of the mountains, 

 of rocky cliffs by the sea, of barren mesas, of 

 semiarid deserts, and of the great uncut forest 

 lands. 



It has retreated before the advance of man, be- 

 ing still an inhabitant of the wilderness. Its food 

 is the offal or carcasses of animals, fish, and 

 crabs gathered by the sea, insects, eggs, and help- 

 less young birds of any species. As it comes very 

 little in contact with man, its economic interest is 

 not important. 



Like many species of birds, the raven feeds its 

 young for a time by regurgitation. Its devotion to 

 its offspring is very great, and it is said to attack 

 the eagle, if necessary, to protect them. The 

 parents stay with the young, feeding them, guard- 

 ing them,, and teaching them the ways of the 

 raven world throughout the summer, long after 

 they have left the nest. 



The northern raven is found from the Arctic 

 Ocean southward to the norther., tier of States 

 and in the Alleghenies to Georgia. 



AMERICAN RAVEN (C. c. sinuatus). 

 This is a subspecies occurring from British Co- 

 lumbia, Montana, and North Dakota southward 

 to Nicaragua. 



WHITE-NECKED RAVEN (C. crypto- 

 leucus). The white on the neck of this bird 

 is seen only if the neck feathers are raised, since 

 it is found only at the base of the feathers. The 

 bird's habitat is the desert region of western 

 United States and Mexico, from Arizona, New 

 Mexico, and centra! Texas southward. Of a size 

 midway between the common crow and the 

 northern raven, it is often seen perched on tele- 

 phone poles in towns. 



EASTERN CROW (Corvus brachyrhyn- 

 chos brachyrhynchos) 



This is the common crow of much of eastern 

 North America. The northern boundary of its 

 breeding range is along a line extending from 

 Newfoundland and through Quebec to Manitoba. 

 From here it spreads in a southward and south- 

 eastward direction through the States to Mary- 

 land, the northern part of the Gulf States, and 

 northern Texas. It winters generally in the 

 United States. 



The common crow is one of the best-known 

 birds in this country and in many regions it is 

 extremely abundant. 



In the autumn, in some sections, crows congre- 

 gate in large numbers to roost in a favorite grove, 

 and here come together nightly for many weeks. 

 In the morning they spread out over a great area 

 of country in search of food. Long before sun- 

 down they begin to return from all directions. 



continuing to arrive singly or in small groups 

 until dark. Many thousands thus assemble in a 

 single roost. 



They are very cunning and know to a nicety 

 the range of a gun. In the woods and fields it is 

 only by accident, or by the exercise of careful 

 strategy, that a man may approach this bird close 

 enough to kill it. 



A story has long been current that a crow will 

 talk only if its tongue is split. This cruel prac- 

 tice is neither necessary nor desirable. 



Crows make their nests in trees, usually in 

 March, April, or May. Four to six eggs are laid. 

 They are greenish blue, thickly covered with 

 markings of various shades of brown. 



This is one of the species which has been di- 

 vided by ornithologists into various geographical 

 races. There is extremely little difference in 

 their appearance, and their general feeding, nest- 

 ing, and roosting habits show only such varia- 

 tions necessarily due to natural surroundings. 

 In addition to the widely distributed eastern 

 crow, this group includes four other forms, as 

 follows : 



SOUTHERN CROW (C. b. paulus). Its 

 territory is from the lower Potomac and Ohio 

 valleys south to southern Georgia and eastern 



FLORIDA CROW (C. b. pascuus). This 

 variety breeds throughout most of the peninsula 

 of Florida. 



WESTERN CROW (C. b. hesperis). 



This western subspecies occurs from British Co- 

 lumbia and Saskatchewan to New Mexico and 

 northern Baja California. 



NORTHWESTERN CROW (C. b. cau- 

 rinus). The range of the northwestern crow is 

 limited to a narrow strip of country from Kodiak 

 Island and Kukak Bay, Alaska, to Puget Sound, 

 Washington. 



FISH CROW (Corvus ossifragus) 



While skirting a salt marsh on the Virginia 

 coast one June day, I sought the shade of one of 

 the scattered pines dotting the landscape. When 

 on the point of sitting down, I noticed an egg- 

 shell on the carpet of pine needles. Near by was 

 another, and still another — in fact, I soon found 

 the remains of at least two dozen eggs of the 

 clapper rail, which inhabited the neighboring 

 marsh in large numbers. The eggs must have 

 been carried to a certain large limb, where they 

 had been eaten and the shells dropped to the 

 ground. While I rested, one of the marauders 

 of the marsh appeared. He was a fish crow and 

 he carried an egg in his beak. 



Fish crows eat principally crabs, fish, and such 

 other animal food as they can find along the coast 

 and neighboring rivers and lakes. They range 

 from Massachusetts southward to Florida, and 

 thence along the Gulf coast to eastern Texas. 

 One may find them inland, especially at various 

 places in the Southern States. The bird is smaller 

 than the common crow and measures about six- 

 teen inches in length. Its usual cry is a nasal, 

 reedy caw, which resembles the note of the young 

 of the larger species. The best way for the 

 student to distinguish this bird in the field is by 

 its note. 



