286 
TRANSACTIONS OF THE 
The raven is very intelligent, and on several expeditions, made to 
obtain the eggs, tiie instant we stopped at the foot of the bluff, there was 
a great outcry, and the whole colony arranged themselves on the edge 
of the rock, in anxious consultation, uttering repeated cries of warning 
to their companions ; and on one occasion, having to go back unsucess- 
ful, on account of the inaccessibility of the nest, it was difficult to doubt 
the meaning of the intelligent and joyous croak and derisive screech 
which announced our departure. 
Tiieir Indian name is KlaKwhun or Tu€tch6ne, and the Eskimo, 
Toolookaguk. This bird is considered as a great knave and cheat, and 
is mixed with many of their superstitions, and always appears in their 
stories and legends. He is one of the four personifications which the 
Thlinkets adopt as their totem or " lux-2)ate-uk.^'' They are very abund- 
ant at Sitka, and Lutke says : " The ravens are the police of Sitka ; 
active, vigilant, silent, nothing escapes their eyes. No poultry can be 
raised, for the ravens devour the fledglings as fast as they appear, 
making only one mouthful of them. The porkers are too large to be 
overcome in that manner, and the ravens are obliged to satisfy their 
greediness by keeping the pigs' tails close cropped. This is the reason 
why Sitka pigs have no tails !" I am inclined to think that, since Lutke's 
time, the ravens have given it up as a bad job, as, in spite of the story 
and the results which might have been reasonably looked for according 
to the doctrine of selection, the Sitka pigs have at present tails very 
much like those of pigs in more favored situations. D. 
Common all the year; especially abundant during the summer months 
on one or two small islands lying ofi" the northeast point of St. Michael's 
Island, which they share with the puffins, cormorants, and occasionally 
Plectrophanes nivalis. B. 
85. Corvus caurinus Baird. (428.) Western Fish Crow. Several 
specimens received from Sitka through Bischoff. D. 
8G. Picicorvus columbianus Bon. (430.) Clarke's Crow. One 
specimen received from Bischoff, collected at Sitka. D. 
87. Pica hiidsonica Bon. (432.) Magpie. Abundant at Sitka; 
observed at Ounga, one of the Shumagin Islands, and obtained by 
Bischoft" at Kadiak. j), 
88. Cyanura SfelleH Sw. (435.) Steller's Jay. Abundant at Sitka 
and in British Columbia, whence many specimens have been received 
through the untiring Bischoff and Mr. Elliott. D. 
89. Perisoreus canadensis Bon. (443.) Canada Jay. One speci- 
men seen at St. Michael's, and killed by Mr. Pease, near the Redoubt. 
Known by the name of whisky Jack" all llirough the Hudson Bay 
Territory, and to the Russians as soyah. A very bold and familiar bird, 
