The Raven 
379 
society. In this manner they may recall the pleasing remembrance 
of their youthful days, recount tlie events of their life, and express 
the pleasure they enjoy. 
'‘Now, their iwatins are over; the happy pair are seen to glide 
towards the earth in spiral lines ; they alight on the boldest summit 
of a rock, so high that you can scarcely judge their actual size; they 
approach each other, their bills meet, and caresses are exchanged 
as tender as those of the gentle Turtle Dove. Far beneath, wave 
after wave dashes in foam against the impregnable sides of the rocky 
tower, the very aspect of which would be terrific to almost any other 
creatures than the sable pair, which for years have resorted to it, 
to rear the dearly-cherished fruits of their connubial love. Midway 
between them and the boiling waters, some shelving ledge conceals 
their eyrie. 
“To it they now betake themselves, to see what damage it has 
sustained from the peltings of the winter tempests. Ofif they fly 
to the distant woods for fresh materials with which to repair their 
breach; or on the plain they collect the hair and fur of quadruples; 
or from the sandy beach pick up the weeds that have been washed 
there. By degrees, the nest is enlarged and trimmed, and when every- 
thing has been rendered clean and comfortable, the female deposits 
her eggs, and begins to sit upon them, while her brave and afifection- 
ate mate protects and feeds her, and at intervals takes her place.” 
In general appearance the Raven closely resembles a Crow, but 
it is larger. A Crow rarely is more than eighteen or twenty inches 
in length and has an expanse of wings of less than 
Larger three feet. A Raven is two feet long from bill tip to 
than tail tip and measures four feet or more across when its 
A Crow wings are spread to their full capacity. A close in- 
spection of the two birds reveals a certain marked dif- 
ference in the shape of the feathers of the neck, those of the Crow being 
rounded at the ends, while those of the Raven are sharply pointed. 
In flight the two birds may usually be distinguished, as the Raven 
has a way of sailing at times to an extent rarely if ever equalled by 
a Crow. The well-known caw of the Crow is replaced in the case of 
the Raven with a croak so deep, so unlike any other sound in nature 
that once heard it is not easily forgotten. 
As indicated above Ravens build their nests on the ledges of 
cliffs or in trees. These usually are bulky, and as additional mate- 
rials are brought year after year they grow in some instances to 
be very large affairs. The eggs range in number from two to seven. 
In color they are olive or greenish and thickly spotted and blotched 
with olivenbrown. Twenty days of brooding are required to hatch them. 
The Raven’s food consists of a wide variety of objects, but evi- 
dently animal matter predominates. They eat grasshoppers, beetles, 
lizards, mice and young birds. They are scavengers and feast upon 
dead animals, both large and small. 
In August, 1916, while working about Malheur Lake in the des- 
erts of southeastern Oregon, we found Ravens much in evidence. 
