Mayhew 1981 October 18 Raven 1 Pinyon Flat, Riverside Co., Calif. Since September 1979, I have been seeing large numbers of Ravens at Pinyon Flat in September, October and November of each year (see data sheets for Transects 13, 14, 15 and 16 in the Deep Canyon Transect). However, I was unable to account for this increase in numbers during these months. Now I know why they congregate here at this time. They are feeding on pinyon nuts. At 1555 today I saw a Raven fly overhead with a pinyon cone in its beak. I began to look closely at the Ravens resting in the pinyon pines. I saw a bird pick at a pinyon cone. A tract or some other object came from the cone and fell to the ground. This occurred several times before the bird removed the cone from the tree and flew away with it (the cone) in its beak. Many of these birds were in the tops of the pines, apparently gathering the nuts from the cones.