490 
BIRDS OF NEW MEXICO 
parties in the northern half of the State, although they have traveled extensively 
over both mountains and valleys. Their most northern records are Cactus Flat 
(Bailey); Cutter (Ligon); Cuchillo (Goldman); Jicarilla Mountains (Gaut); Roswell 
(Bailey); and Fort Sumner (Ligon). While this probably approximates the present 
range, before the buffalo disap¬ 
peared the birds occurred much 
farther north. In 1880 they were 
abundant November 28-30, near 
Galisteo 20 miles south of Santa 
Fe (Goss, 1881b, pp. 118-119), 
and ten years earlier they were 
common along the whole western 
edge of the plains even to north¬ 
ern Colorado. 
In New Mexico, at the present 
time, they breed from the lowest, 
hottest valleys of the State up to 
about 5,000 feet, and less com¬ 
monly a thousand feet higher to 
6,000 feet at Silver City (Hunn). 
In 1886, at Apache (Hachita), 
eggs were found on June 2, and 
young still in the nest all through 
July (Anthony). [Nests with 
young, June 29 and July 1, 
1917, near Cutter, Sierra County 
(Ligon) 1. The earliest eggs re¬ 
ported were May 2, 1908, near 
Engle, and the species was found 
up to 6,000 feet 30 miles west of 
Engle June 9,1913. [From May 
6-10, 1920, they were very abun¬ 
dant up to within 3 miles of 
Silver City, building nests every¬ 
where in yuccas and mesquites, 
while other nests had one to five fresh eggs. On May 29, 1919, about a dozen 
nests were examined in mesquite bushes 10 to 22 miles southwest of Lovington 
on top of the Staked Plains at about 4,000 feet. Some had young beginning to 
feather, others very small young, while some had incubated eggs and others still 
lacked their full complements. On June 6, 1924, a nest with unfeathered young 
was found in a cottonwood about 5 miles northeast of Lovington. They were com¬ 
mon in the Lower Pecos Valley and the southeastern section of the State. On May 
31, 1919, a nest, was found about 55 miles northeast of Carlsbad. The height of the 
normal nesting season seems to be early May, but unusually late or dry seasons may 
defer it until early June. About 18 miles south of Fort Sumner a pair seen June 18, 
1918, were presumably nesting in the vicinity (Ligon).] 
[After the breeding season, on August 26, 1917, many were seen between Silver 
City and Deming, and on September 14, 1917, about 200 were seen near Buckhorn 
(Ligon).] 
Although wintering at Deming and El Paso, most of them are absent from the 
State during December and January, returning to the southern part in February. 
Similarly, at Fort Stockton, Texas, where they are very abundant in the fall, “they 
From Biological Sumy 
Fig. 85. Nest of Wliitc-necked Raven 
The sharp-pointed bayonets of the tree yucca 
(Yucca macrocarpa) make a protecting cordon 
around the eggs and nestlings. Ocotillas em¬ 
phasize the desert character of the landscape 
