(_Corvus corax principalis_) Crow family
_Called also_: NORTHERN RAVEN
_Length_--26 to 27 inches. Nearly three times as large as a
robin.
_Male and Female_--Glossy black above, with purplish and
greenish reflections. Duller underneath. Feathers of the
throat and breast long and loose, like fringe.
_Range_--North America, from polar regions to Mexico. Rare
along Atlantic coast and in the south. Common in the west, and
very abundant in the northwest.
_Migrations_--An erratic wanderer, usually resident where it
finds its way.
The weird, uncanny voice of this great bird that soars in wide circles
above the evergreen trees of dark northern forests seems to come out
of the skies like the malediction of an evil spirit. Without uttering
the words of any language--Poe's "Nevermore" was, of course, a poetic
license--people of all nationalities appear to understand that some
dire calamity, some wicked portent, is being announced every time the
unbirdlike creature utters its rasping call. The superstitious folk
crow with an "I told you so," as they solemnly wag their heads when
they hear of some death in the village after "the bird of ill-omen"
has made an unwelcome visit to the neighborhood. It receives the
blame for every possible misfortune.
When seen in the air, the crow is the only other bird for which the
raven could be mistaken; but the raven does more sailing and less
flapping, and he delights in describing circles as he easily soars
high above the trees. On the ground, he is seen to be a far larger
bird than the largest crow. The curious beard or fringe of feathers on
his breast at once distinguishes him.
These birds show the family instinct for living in flocks large and
small, not of ravens only, but of any birds of their own genera. In
the art of nest building they could instruct most of their relatives.
High up in evergreen trees or on the top of cliffs, never very near
the seashore, they make a compact, symmetrical nest of sticks, neatly
lined with grasses and wool from the sheep pastures, adding soft,
comfortable linings to the old nest from year to year for each new
brood. When the young emerge from the eggs, which take many curious
freaks of color and markings, they are pied black and white,
suggesting the young of the western white-necked raven, a similarity
which, so far as plumage is concerned, they quickly outgrow. They
early acquire the fortunate habit of eating whatever their parents set
before them--grubs, worms, grain, field-mice; anything, in fact, for
the raven is a conspicuously omnivorous bird.
[Illustration: PURPLE MARTIN]
[Illustration: DOWNY (figs. 1 and 2) and HAIRY WOODPECKERS (fig 3)]