C0EVU8. 487 



nigris. Long.tota 24-0, alse 17-3, caudae rect. med. 9-5, rect. lat. 7-2, rostri a rictu 3-0, tarsi 2-7. 

 (Descr. feminse ex Dueiias, Guatemala. Mua. nostr.) 



Hah. North Amekica generally ^ s^ Texas «. — Mexico ^^ ^^ ^i^ Mazatlan ((rraysora 9), 

 Guanajuato, Guadalajara {Bughs ''), Orizaba {8alU ^), alpine region of Vera Cruz 

 and Cerro Colorado near Tehuacan {Swrdchrast ^o), Jalapa and State of Puebla 

 {Perez'^% Barrio, Tapana [Sumichrast'^'^) ; Guatemala (Velasquez ^% Estansuelas, 

 Duenas, Chimaltenango (0. S. i^), ridge above Calderas (8300 feet), Volcan de 

 Fuego (12,000 feet), Volcan de Atitlan, Quezaltenango, San Ger6nimo (0. S. & 

 F. D. G.) ; Honduras, between Opotelma and Siguatepeque (Taylor ^^). — Widely 

 distributed throughout Europe and Northern and Central Asia. 



Mr. Sharpe, in compiling his third volume of the ' Catalogue of the Birds of the 

 British Museum,' examined very carefully a large series of Ravens from many parts of 

 the world ; and the conclusion he came to, which is also that of Mr. Dresser, was that 

 the species into which Corvus corax is sought to be divided are untenable, and that only 

 one species of this form is found throughout Europe, Northern and Central Asia, and 

 the whole continent of North America. It is true that North-American writers still 

 apply a third name to the bird of the North-American continent, but tangible characters 

 whereby to distinguish it altogether fail us. Several names have been applied to the 

 bird from Mexico, where its presence has been noted since the days of Hernandez, in 

 whose work it appears as the Cacalotl, a name adopted by Wagler in 1831, and one under 

 which the Raven is frequently mentioned by writers on Mexican and Central-American 

 birds. Sumichrast says it is the only species of this genus inhabiting the State of Vera 

 Oruz, where it is found in the alpine region ; he adds that it is rarely seen except within 

 the limits of the plateau, where it is abundant. The Cerro Colorado, near Tehuacan, 

 to the south of the St^te of Puebla, is the rendezvous of a large number of these birds. 

 At the time of the flowering of the maguey (Agave), with which the sides and summit 

 of that mountain are covered, the Ravens gather there in greater abundance than at any 

 othei^ time. The blossom of the Agave is their favourite food, as it is also of other 

 birds, owing to the honeyed sweetness of their corollee. In Guatemala the Raven is 

 chiefly met with in the highlands, its principal resort being such places as Duenas, 

 Chimaltenango, Quezaltenango, &c., and we have observed it in the Volcan de Fuego 

 as high as 12,000 feet above the level of the sea ; but it is not exclusively confined to 

 these high elevations, for it is found not unfrequently in the plain of Salama, at an 

 elevation of 3000 feet, and on the plain of Zacapa, which is less than 1000 feet above 

 the sea. In Honduras Mr. Taylor saw two large crows on a lofty pine-tree on the 

 Tidge between Opotelma and Siguatepeque, which he refers to this species. Though 

 he did not obtain a specimen, it can hardly be doubted he was right in so doing. This 

 point marks the southern limit of the Raven in Central America, so far as our present 

 knowledge goes. 



