280 
CROWS, JAYS, MAGPIES, ETC. 
ravens echoes back from cliff and wall. The higher and more inac¬ 
cessible the cliff and the more barren and deserted the valley below 
the better suited are the ravens and the more freely do they soar 
and croak, flying singly or in pairs, up and down along the face 
of the cliff with a spirited wildness that harmonizes well with their 
background. Suspicious, wary pirates they are, always on the de¬ 
fensive to evade attack, keeping well out of rifle range of man, 
and often forced to mount to almost invisible heights to avoid mob¬ 
bing attacks from small birds that seem to have permanent wrongs 
to avenge. 
They descend to lake and river shores for dead fish or whatever 
the. waves wash up in the way of food, make a few meals from a 
dead sheep, feast on what is left when a hunter dresses a deer, and 
are accused of helping out their varied bill of fare with eggs and 
young from any birds’ nest that comes handy. Their own nests, 
placed in a niche half way up some perpendicular cliff, usually bids 
defiance to all enemies. Vernon Bailey. 
486a. C. c. principalis Ridgw. Northern Raven. 
Like the American raven, but larger, with larger and heavier bill; tarsus 
shorter and stouter ; more of upper part concealed by feathering of thighs. 
Length: 22.00-26.50, wing 16.50-18.00, tail 9.20-10.50, exposed culmen 
2.65-3.45. 
Distribution. — Northern North America from Greenland west to Alaska, 
south to Washington, northern Michigan, New York, and Maine, and south 
in the mountains to North Carolina. 
Nest. — On cliffs and in trees, made of sticks lined with seaweed, grasses, 
mosses, or hair. Eggs: 4 to 6, greenish or drab, usually profusely blotched 
and spotted with browns, drab, and lavender. 
Food. — Largely fish offal and refuse ; also clams, and eggs and young 
of waterfowl. 
The northern raven resembles the American in general habits and 
call-notes, and is usually most abundant in the immediate vicinity 
of Indian camps on the seashore or on the banks of large rivers in 
the interior. 
487. Corvus cryptoleucus Couch. White-necked Raven. 
Black, upper parts glossed with purplish ; feathers of neck pure white at 
base , nasal tufts covering more than basal half of upper mandible. Length : 
18.75-21.00, wing 13.10-14.25, tail 7.50-8.60, exposed culmen 2.00-2.35. 
Distribution. — Mainly Lower Sonoran zone from Texas to southern Cali¬ 
fornia, and from western Kansas and southern Colorado south through 
northern Mexico. 
Nest.. — Poorly made, usually of thorny twigs lined with yucca fibers, 
deer hair, rabbit fur, bark, grass, or moss; placed only 7 to 20 feet from 
the ground, often in a yucca top. Eggs : 3 to 8, green, with longitudinal 
marks of gray, brown, and lavender, sometimes partly hidden by brown 
spots and blotches. 
Food. — Principally animal matter, including cicadas ; also refuse grain. 
