. 
RAVEN. 3 ) 363 
number of nests are placed in the holes of limbs and hollow trunks of 
trees, especially sycamore and oak. In some localitias where oak trees 
have been “topped,” the nest is placed on the end of the “stub.” 
The nest is composed of mud, with a foundation of grass and weeds, 
and a lining of fine grasses and frequently hair. The eggs are from four 
to six. Their “ground color is light greenish or smoky blye, with irreg- 
ular dark-brown or black blotches, dots, lines, and scrawls distibuted 
promiscuously over the surface, often resembling Japanese characters.” 
They measure 1.18 by .83. 
FAMILY CORVIDA. THE CROWS. 
Primaries, 10; the first usually about half the second; the outer four sinuated on the 
inner edge. Nostrils concealed by stiffened bristles or bristly feathers directed forwards. 
- Tarsus with scutella separated from the lateral plates by a narrow naked strip. Basal 
joint of middle toe united for about half its length to each lateral. _ Bill notched. . 
Subfamily CORVINA. Typical Crows. 
Bill as long as head; wings long and pointed, longer than the short, nearly even tail. 
GENUS CORVUS. Linnezeus. 
Bill nearly as long as tarsus, very stout, ares than broad at base, much arched; 
' tarsus longer than middle toe. 
Corvus coRAx L. 
raven. 
Corvus corax, WILSON, Am. Orn., ix, 1825, 136.—KirTLAND, Ohio Geolog. Surv., 1838, 162, 
180.—AUDUBON, B. Am., iv, 1843, 86.—ReEapD, Fam. Visitor, iii, 1853, 327; Proce. 
Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila., vi, 1853, 395.—-WHEATON, Food of Birds, etc., Ohio Agric., 
Rep. for 1874, 1875, 568; Reprint, 8s-Cougs, Birds of N, W., 1874, 205.—LANGDON, 
Cat. Birds of Cin., 1877, 10; Journ. Cin. Soc. Nat. Hist., i, 1878, 115; Reprint, 6. 
Corvus carnivorus, WHEATON, Ohio Agric. Rep. for 1860, 1861, 367; Reprint, 9. 
Corvus corax var. carnivorus, LANGDON, Revised List, Journ. Cin. Soc. Nat. Hist., i, 1879, 
177; Reprint, 11; Field Notes, ib, iii, 1880, 125. 
Raven, KirTLAND, Fam. Visitor, i, 1850, 1. 
Corvus corax, LINNZUS. 
Corvus carnivorus, BARTRAM, Trav. Fla., i, 1793, 290. 
Corvus corax var. carnivorus, BAIRD, BREWER, and Ripeway, N. A, Birds, ii, 1875, 234. 
Entire lustrous black; throat feathers acute, lengthened, and disconnected. Length, 
about 2 feet; wing, 16-18 inches; tail, 10. 
Habitat, North America. Rare east of the Mississippi. 
Rare winter visitor. Early in the history of the State the Raven was 
not uncommon. Wilson speaks of it as entirely supplanting the Crow 
on the southern shores of Lake Erie. -It soon became less numerous, and 
in the course of fifty years had disappeared as a regular visitor from all 
parts excepting the northern portions of the State, where it is now rare. 
