about Raven, quoting W. E. Clyde Todd. In the unsettled parts of Canada, the Raven is still common, as it once must also have been in the mountains of Pennsylvania, where now it is growing scarcer year by year. But the present outlook for this species there [ridge and valley section] is not encouraging. But so completely has this entire region [Cambria County] been lumbered over since then [June 1893], that I doubt whether a single Raven remains. It is not a bird that can adjust itself to changing conditions, and as the wilderness has retreated, it has steadily retired before the encroachments of Civilization. Inasmuch as the species has survived in Europe in the face of the same changes, its status here is hard to understand. Certainly it is now rare and local in our region, and whether anything further can be done to conserve the remaining individuals is questionable. On a few subsequent occasions I have encountered ravens in various sections of the state [PA], but I have never been able to approach within gunshot. The Raven is in all respects a sublimated Crow, with the characteristics of the Crow developed to a higher degree. Wary though the Crow may be, the Raven is still more alert, watchful, and circumspect. It is even more cautious than most hawks, so far as direct approach is concerned, and for this reason probably seldom falls victim to the unprincipled gunner. Yet it has a streak of curiosity in its make-up and will sometimes return to the scene of its first alarm, swinging over to take another look at the intruder, only to be off again shortly with a hoarse croak of disapproval. The significance of a gun is as well understood by the Raven as by the Crow. Birds of Western Pennsylvania by W. E. Clyde Todd University of Pittsburgh Press, 1940
Posted on: Thu, 01 Jan 2015 02:39:20 +0000