Breeding schedule.—Fourteen records of breeding span the period April 11 to June 20; the modal date for egg-laying is May 15.
Number of eggs.—There are no data on clutch-size in Kansas; elsewhere Black-billed Magpies lay 3 to 9 eggs, and clutches of 7 are found most frequently (Linsdale, 1937:104).
Nests are placed from 10 to 18 feet high (averaging 13 feet) in forks or lateral masses of branches in cottonwood, box elder, ash, and willow.
White-necked Raven: Corvus cryptoleucus Couch.—This summer resident is common in western Kansas, probably occupying locally favorable sites in prairie grassland and woodland edge west of a line from Smith to Seward counties. The species is known to nest in Cheyenne, Sherman, and Finney counties.
Breeding schedule.—There are few data from Kansas; Aldous (1942) states that the birds begin activities leading to building sometime in April in Oklahoma; the peak of egg-laying probably occurs in May, which coincides with the records from Kansas.
Number of eggs.—Outside Kansas, this species lays 3 to 7 eggs; these figures seem applicable to Kansas, where brood sizes are known to run from 1 to 7 young.
Nests are placed about 20 feet high in cottonwood and other trees.
Common Crow: Corvus brachyrhynchos brachyrhynchos Brehm.—This resident is common in most of Kansas, but numbers are lower in the west. Distribution in the breeding season is west at least to Cheyenne, Logan, and Meade counties.
Breeding schedule.—Sixty-nine records of breeding span the period March 10 to May 31 ([Fig. 7]); the modal date for egg-laying is April 5, and 60 per cent of all eggs are laid between March 21 and April 10.
Number of eggs.—Clutch-size is 4 eggs (4.2, 3-5; 19).