ZOOLOGY. 743 
Wright stock. The facts connected with the breeding of this flock 
are substantially the same as those given by Huxley in reference 
to the Seth Wright flock. 
Mr. Hale, senior, thinks the progeny of an otter ram with ordi- 
nary sheep were oftener straight- than bow-legged. Mr. T. W. 
Hale says that he is sure there were never any reversions to long 
and straight legs when they were breeding pure otter; and a 
farm boy’s recollection on such a matter is pretty trustworthy. 
The Hales think the otters were not quite as prolific as the ordi- 
nary kind. There were some things about reproduction that 
indicated a feebler constitution than that possessed. by other vari- 
eties. Iam not an anatomist and can give a description of these 
sheep only in general terms. They came well enough by the 
term ‘“‘otter.” We used to call them ‘‘ creepers,” their bodies were 
so close to the ground. Mrs. Hale says they were a race of 
cripples, and that is probably the best general designation they 
could have. Their legs were short and very much curved or 
bowed outward. The flexure of the knee joint of the fore leg 
instead of being longitudinal with the axis of the body was at 
quite a high angle from it. In other words this joint instead of 
being a knee became an elbow joint. So it appeared. The joints 
were enlarged, the gait slow and laborious. If the case of the 
otter sheep has any bearing on the subject of the origin of species 
it certainly shows that differentiation may take place by degra- 
dation as well as by elevation. If some competent anatomist will 
take this matter in hand the object of this article will be gained. 
— C. Caverno, Amboy, Til 
Crows anp Ravens.—In the November number of the Natu- 
RALIST, Dr. Barrett, after alluding to the supposed distinct geo- 
graphical range of the crow and raven, asks whether there is any 
antagonism between them, and whether they ever exist together. 
From the abundance of the crow over the eastern portions of the 
United States, and the almost entire absence of the raven over 
the same region, and its abundance further west, where the crow is 
commonly believed to be of rare occurrence, it has been supposed 
that the two species do not mingle, and that an antipathy exists 
between them. This impression was shared by myself until the 
present season, when over a region nearly five hundred miles in 
breadth, in the territories of Dakota and Montana, I found the 
