Chapter XVI: Section IV: Crown rufous; body above, olive-green (7)

An egg of this species, from Anderson River, measures 1.96 inches in length by 1.32 in breadth. Two from Grand Menan measure, one 2.05 inches by 1.30, the other 1.95 by 1.25. The ground-color of two of these is a soiled sea-green, that of the third is a light bluish-green. This is more sparingly marked with dots, blotches, and cloudings of faint purple and purplish-brown, chiefly at the larger end. The others are marked over the entire egg with blotches of varying size and depth of coloring, of a deep purple-brown; some of the markings are not readily distinguishable from black.

Corvus cryptoleucus, COUCH.

WHITE-NECKED CROW.

_Corvus cryptoleucus_, COUCH, Pr. A. N. Sc. VII, April, 1854, 66
(Tamaulipas, Mexico).—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 565, pl.
xxii.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 284.

SP. CHAR. The fourth quill is longest; the third and fifth equal; the second longer than the sixth; the first about equal to the seventh. Glossy black, with violet reflections; feathers of neck all round, back, and breast, snow-white at the base. Length, about 21.00; wing, 14.00; tail, 8.50. Feathers of throat lanceolate; bristly feathers along the base of the bill covering it for nearly two thirds its length.

HAB. Valley of Rio Grande and Gila. Abundant on the Llano Estacado, and at Eagle Pass, Texas (DRESSER, Ibis, 1865, 494). Colorado (AIKEN).

In the white bases to the feathers of the neck, etc., there is a resemblance in this species to the _C. leucognaphalus_ of Porto Rico; but the latter has entirely different proportions, blended instead of lanceolate feathers on the throat, exceedingly short instead of unusually long nasal plumes, and many other differences, and is in every feature totally distinct.

HABITS. Of the distinctive habits or the extent of the distribution of the White-necked Raven we have very little knowledge. It was first described by Lieutenant Couch, in 1854, from specimens obtained by him at Charco Escondido, Mexico, in May, 1853. Other specimens were afterwards procured by Dr. Kennerly, at Janos, Mexico, in 1855, and by Mr. Dresser at Eagle Pass, Texas, in March, 1864. The latter gives no notes as to its habits.

Dr. Kennerly’s note in regard to it is that it was not very common, and when seen was generally associated with the larger species of Raven. Lieutenant Couch merely mentions it as found in small numbers in Eastern Tamaulipas, generally near ranches.

Mr. J. H. Clark writes that this species does not seem to possess the cunning or wariness of its congeners. It was met with, in the greatest abundance, about watering-places. It was not found habitually in great flocks, though at the head of the Limpia many were congregated and flying about the face of an immense rocky mountain wall, where they were probably nesting. Their note he describes as coarse, and less shrill than that of the common Crow. He met with the supposed nest in an arborescent cactus.

Dr. Coues does not appear to have met with this species in Arizona, but Lieutenant Bendire writes to Professor Baird from Tucson, April 12, 1872, that it is the most common Crow or Raven there. This he discovered accidentally, finding that three fourths of the Ravens he shot proved to be of this species; the others were the Colorado race of the Raven. Specimens of this Crow were obtained at Fort Buchanan by Dr. Irwin, at Pecos River by Dr. Anderson, and in the Indian Territory by Mr. McCarthy.

An egg of this species, from Trout Creek, Texas, obtained June 20 by Charles S. McCarthy, measures 1.75 inches in length by 1.25 in breadth. The ground-color is a light grayish-green, and is pretty uniformly marked with fine dottings of mingled purple and brown.

Corvus americanus, AUD.

COMMON CROW.

_Corvus corone_, WILSON, Am. Orn. IV, 1811, 79, pl. xxv, f. 3.—BON.
Obs. Wils. 1824, No. 37.—IB. Syn. 1828, 56.—RICH. F. B. Am.
II, 1831, 291.—NUTTALL, Man. I, 1832, 209 (not _Corvus corone_
of LINN.). CORVUS AMERICANUS, AUD. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 317; V,
477, pl. clvi.—IB. Syn. 1839, 150.—IB. Birds Am. IV, 1842,
87, pl. ccxxv.—BON. List, 1838.—IB. Consp. 1850,
385.—NUTTALL, Man. I, (2d ed.,) 1840, 221.—MAXIM. Reise, I,
1839, 140.—NEWBERRY, Zoöl. Cal. & Or. Route, P. R. R. Rep. VI,
IV, 1857, 82.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 566, pl. xxiii.—MAX.
Caban. J. VI, 1858, 198.—SCHLEGEL, Notice sur les Corbeaux,
10, pl. i, f. 16.—COUES, P. A. N. S. 1861, 226.—SAMUELS,
357.—ALLEN, B. E. Fla. 297 (in part).

SP. CHAR. Fourth quill longest; second shorter than sixth; first shorter than ninth. Glossy black with violet reflections, even on the belly. Length, 19.00 to 20.00; wing, 13.00 to 13.50; tail about 8.00. Tarsus longer than the middle toe and claw.

HAB. United States, from Atlantic to Pacific; rare in the Middle Province and on Missouri Plains, and on northwest coast. N. E. Texas (DRESSER, Ibis, 1865, 494). North to Great Slave Lake, Fort Rae, and Nelson River, H. B. T.

The _C. americanus_ has no analogue in Europe, though the _C. corone_ somewhat resembles it. The most important feature of distinction appears to lie in the structure of the feathers of the head and neck, which in _C. corone_ are narrow, with the tips distinct, while in the American bird these tips are blended together and do not maintain their individuality. The feathers on the fore-neck in _corone_ are also lanceolate and distinct, showing the outline of each one as in the Raven, while in the American Crow they are three times as broad, rounded, and entirely blended. Mr. Audubon further remarks that the neck of the European bird is glossed with green and blue, while that of the American has a decided purplish-brown tinge.

Prince Maximilian states, in addition, that the note differs in the two species.

HABITS. The Common Crow of North America is found in great abundance in all the Eastern States, from Texas to Florida, and from the Missouri to Nova Scotia. A few are found beyond the Great Plains, and they also extend their migrations, in summer, into high Arctic regions. Richardson found them as far north as the 55th parallel, but was in error when he stated that beyond this they do not go. He adds that none approach within five or six hundred miles of Hudson’s Bay. They were observed at Cross Lake and at Lake Winnepeg by Mr. Kennicott, at Big Island by Mr. Reid, at Fort Rae by Mr. Clarke, and at Fort Anderson and on the Lower Anderson River by Mr. MacFarlane, who also found them breeding even at this high latitude. They were not seen in Russian America, and Dr. Cooper thinks that the species does not occur in California, or, if at all, only rarely, but that it is there replaced by _C. caurinus_.

Mr. Ridgway found the Crow of very rare occurrence in the interior. A very few were seen in the Truckee meadows, in November, and others at the Humboldt marshes, in October. These western birds were exceedingly unsuspicious and familiar, so much so that those seen in the Humboldt marshes were walking about with all the familiarity of domestic pigeons, only hopping aside as they were approached. None were seen either in spring or summer.

In Western Iowa Mr. Allen states that he saw but very few of this species, and even in Northern Illinois it was not very common. At the West this bird is reported to be held in better estimation than at the East, by the farmers. It is not known to pull corn, and seems to be entirely unsuspicious. It is regarded generally as a benefactor, and not only deserves, but receives, good treatment. In Indiana he found it more common.

Dr. Coues met with a single individual on the Labrador coast. In Nova Scotia it is much more abundant, and there, as on the Western prairies, being unmolested by the inhabitants, it is exceedingly unsuspicious, and will permit a very near approach before it will fly, and even then will not move to a distance. In all of the United States east of the Mississippi it is very abundant. In Texas, between San Antonio and the Mexican frontier, it is not common; but Mr. Dresser found it very common in the northeast part of the State during the whole year.

Probably no one of our birds, so wholly worthless for food, has been more hunted and destroyed than this species. In certain parts of the country it is held in great aversion by the farmers, and in some States bounty-laws have been enacted by legislatures to promote its destruction. Had not these birds been possessed of an extraordinary intelligence, they must long since have been exterminated or driven from a large part of the country. In some sections their numbers have been of late much diminished by the use of strychnine. During the month of May the Crow is very destructive in the cornfield, pulling up the grains as soon as they begin to vegetate, and compelling the farmer to replant perhaps several times. Wilson remarks that in the State of Delaware these birds collect in immense flocks and commit great devastation upon crops of standing corn. They also occasionally commit depredations in the barn-yard, robbing hens’-nests of their eggs, and even destroying young chickens. They also destroy the eggs and young of other birds. The mischief they thus do is doubtless very great, and the ground for the prevalent prejudice against them is quite apparent. Yet it is equally demonstrable that this bird is surpassed, and probably is equalled, by no other in the vast amount of the benefits conferred upon agriculturalists. The evil it perpetrates is very limited, and is confined to but a short period, but during all the time it is resident the Crow is constantly engaged in the destruction of injurious insects and rodent quadrupeds. In the early spring it feeds almost wholly upon the most destructive grubs, and in extensive districts of Massachusetts, where these birds have been largely destroyed, the ravages of the May-bugs and the grasshoppers in pasture-lands have been a natural consequence of so short-sighted a policy.

The persecutions to which the Crow is subjected have developed in them a wariness and a distrust that is foreign to their nature. They can only live by keeping on a constant lookout for dangers, and by learning to distinguish the weapons that threaten their destruction. As soon as anything is seen that causes alarm, the signal is at once given, and the warning passed from one to another.

In New Jersey and in Pennsylvania, during the winter months, the Crows assemble in immense flocks, and their movements appear to be regulated by the guidance of a few chosen leaders. I received from the lips of the late John Cassin, an ornithologist hardly less remarkable for his outdoor observations than for his researches in the closet, only a few days before his death, a very surprising account of the movements of a large army of Crows, witnessed by himself, in the spring of 1868.

On a Sunday morning in April, when Philadelphia was enveloped in a fog so dense and impenetrable that it was hardly possible to distinguish objects across its streets, Mr. Cassin’s attention was called to an immense accumulation of these birds in Independence Square. The whole park he found, to his utter astonishment, occupied by an immense army of Crows. They filled all the trees, bending down the overloaded branches, and swarmed over and covered the ground. The entire space seemed alive with Crows. They had evidently become bewildered in the fog, and had strangely taken refuge in this small park in the very heart of Philadelphia. As if aware of their close proximity to danger, the whole assembly was quiet, orderly, and silent. A few birds, evidently acting as leaders, moved noiselessly back and forth through their ranks, as if giving tacit signals. These movements were followed by the departure of a few scouts, as if sent to make explorations, but they soon returned unsuccessful. Again were repeated the uneasy movements of their leaders, passing slowly and cautiously through their close ranks. After an apparently much longer consultation, another small party ascended to explore, wheeling round and round in wider and wider zones. At length, satisfied with their observations, they quietly returned, and made their report in a manner evidently understood, though not audibly expressed; for immediately the leaders passed again among the crowd, and, as if signals were given for a general movement, the whole of this immense congregation, numbering, Mr. Cassin estimated, hundreds of thousands, rose slowly and silently, preceded by their scouts, and, moving off in a westerly direction, were soon lost to view.

When taken young, the Crow can be easily domesticated, and becomes a very entertaining, but a very mischievous pet. It is very secretive, hiding objects of no value to itself, and seems to delight in mischief. It displays often a wonderful intelligence, appears to understand and to obey certain directions, and manifests also remarkable quickness of vision. A tame Crow belonging to a family resident near Boston, and permitted to go at large, manifested all the attachment of a dog. It especially enjoyed the society of the children, and played with them in their games of hide and seek, surpassing them by its readiness in finding the secreted object. It was especially attached to the mistress of the house, flying to her whenever she approached, hovering over her head, and alighting on her shoulder.

In a few instances the Crow has been taught to imitate articulate sounds. In one of these, in Grafton, Mass., the Crow not only vociferated a single monosyllable repeatedly, but at other times enunciated a short sentence of five syllables.

A few are resident in Massachusetts during the year, but the greater portion move south in November and return in March. Those who remain during the winter are chiefly resident near the sea-shore. The Crow breeds from April to June, varying with the latitude of its residence. In Massachusetts it has full-grown young by June 1. It builds, usually in March, a large rudely constructed nest of sticks, moss, and bark, lined with finer mosses, and sometimes with hair. The parent birds are very watchful and vigilant if their nest is in danger, and often expose their lives in their anxiety for their young. The male bird is attentive to his mate during incubation, and assists in feeding the young. The young are fed chiefly on insects, frogs, mice, and similar food.

The eggs of the Crow vary from 1.60 to 1.55 inches in length, and from 1.20 to 1.10 in breadth. In their markings they exhibit surprising variations. They usually have a ground of a light sea-green, over which are scattered, more or less thickly, blotches, some of them quite large, of a dark-brown, almost black, with purplish reflections. These are chiefly about the larger end. Another quite common variety is of a deeper ground of green, very uniformly and thickly sprinkled with fine dottings of a sepia-brown. Others have a ground nearly white, slightly tinged with green, more sparingly spotted with small blotches of light purplish-brown. A nest found near Springfield contained eggs having the ground-color on one side a pinkish-gray, the rest being greenish-white, all spotted with brown. Another set of eggs from Hudson, Mass., were of a light bluish-green, entirely unspotted, resembling large Robin’s eggs; and Dr. Wood mentions another four, the ground of which was flesh-color, and the spots red.

Corvus americanus, var. floridanus, BAIRD.

FLORIDA CROW.

_Corvus americanus_, var. _floridanus_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 568, pl.
lxvii, f. 1. _C. americanus_, ALLEN, B. E. Fla. 297.

SP. CHAR. About the size of _C. americanus_, but bill and feet larger. Tail less rounded. Third, fourth, and fifth quills nearly equal; third rather longer than fifth. Color less violet above. Length, 19.50; wing, 12.00; tail, 7.70; tarsus, 2.60.

HAB. Southern peninsula of Florida.

This resident Crow of Florida differs in some marked features from that of the more northern localities in several characters. Although perhaps rather smaller, the bill and feet, especially the latter, are very considerably larger. The nasal feathers extend over the basal two fifths of the bill, instead of the half. The proportions of the bill are about the same; in the Florida bird it is rather the longer. The greatest difference is in the feet. The tarsal joint of the tibia is bare, the feathers scarcely coming below it, even anteriorly, instead of projecting some distance. The tarsus is almost a quarter of an inch longer, covered anteriorly by nine scutellæ, instead of eight. The outer lateral toe is shorter, not reaching the base of the middle claw. The middle toe and claw are considerably shorter than the tarsus; the middle claw is shorter than in the northern bird.

The wing-formula differs somewhat; the third, fourth, and fifth quills are nearly equal, the third even longer than the fifth, instead of shorter. The tail is short and very nearly even, the difference in length of feathers being less than half an inch, instead of an inch. This, however, may in part be owing to the absence of the middle pair.

The colors differ somewhat from those of the common Crow. There is less violet, and the feathers of the back have almost a brassy gloss on their margins, as in _Crotophaga_.

The specimen upon which these remarks are based, though apparently perfectly mature, is changing some of its feathers, such as the inner primaries, the middle tail-feathers, and the greater coverts. The long primaries and ten tail-feathers, however, are of full length. It is possible that the bird is really as large as the northern Crow, although this is hardly probable. It was killed on the mainland of the extreme southern portion of Florida, not far from Fort Dallas.

No comparison of this bird is required with the Fish Crow, which has the middle toe and claw longer than the tarsus, not shorter, and the proportions much less.

HABITS. The common resident Crow of Florida exhibits so many peculiarities differing from the northern species, that Professor Baird, in his Birds of America, deemed it worthy of mention at least as a race, if not a distinct species. We have no account of its habits, and do not know if, in any respects, they differ from those of the common Crow. Dr. J. C. Cooper, in his brief manuscript notes on the birds of Florida, made in the spring of 1859, speaks of the Florida Crow as very common, as being quite maritime in its habits, and as having full-fledged young on the 20th of April. Three eggs of this race, obtained in Florida in the spring of 1871, by Mr. Maynard, differ not more from those of the Crow than do those of the latter occasionally from one another. They measure 1.73 by 1.20 inches; 1.70 by 1.20; and 1.54 by 1.25. Their ground-color is a bright bluish-green, and they are all more or less marked, over the entire egg, with blotches of a mingled bronze and brown with violet shadings. The latter tints are more marked in one egg than in the others, and in this the spots are fewer and more at one end, the larger end being nearly free from markings. Their average capacity, as compared with the average of the _C. americanus_, is as 5.1 to 4.2.

Corvus caurinus, BAIRD.

NORTHWESTERN FISH CROW.

_Corvus caurinus_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 569, pl. xxiv.—COOPER
& SUCKLEY, 211, pl. xxiv.—DALL & BANNISTER, Tr. Chic. Ac. I,
1869, 286 (Alaska).—FINSCH, Abh. Nat. III, 1872, 41
(Alaska).—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 285.

SP. CHAR. Fourth quill longest; fifth and third about equal; second longer than sixth; first shorter than ninth. Color black, glossed with purple. Tail nearly even. Tarsus longer than middle toe and claw. Length about 16.50; wing about 11.00; tail about 7.00.

HAB. Northwestern coast, from Columbia River to Sitka.

This species is readily distinguished from the eastern Fish Crow by the larger size; the absence of green gloss on the belly; the tarsi longer than the middle toe and claw, instead of shorter; and the second quill being generally shorter than the sixth instead of longer, and considerably shorter than the culmen, instead of longer.

It is rather to be compared with _C. americanus_, with which it agrees in colors, but from which it differs, essentially, in having the wing and tail very much shorter, while the bill is considerably longer, and in having the tarsus shorter than the culmen, instead of longer, as in all the other North American species. In this last respect it agrees with _C. mexicanus_ (see synopsis, p. 829) of Western Mexico; in this, however, the color and proportions are entirely different.

HABITS. This species appears to be confined to the seaboard of the Pacific, from Alaska to California inclusive. Smaller than the common Crow, in its more essential features it closely resembles that bird, while in all its habits it appears the exact counterpart of the Fish Crow, from which it is specifically and essentially distinct.

It is found as far north as Sitka, several specimens having been procured at that point by Mr. Bischoff.

In the opinion of Dr. Suckley, the marked differences in the habits of this species from those of the common Crow, even more than the great difference in size, sufficiently mark them as entirely distinct. The western Fish Crow is never wary or suspicious, like the common species, but in its impudent familiarity with man resembles the English Jackdaw, and hardly learns to be shy even after having been annoyed with the gun. In Oregon and Washington Territory, he states, this Crow is very abundant, and is one of the marked ornithological features of the country. The great abundance of fish, especially of salmon, in both of these divisions, amply supplies this species with food. At Puget Sound it is abundant throughout the year. During the winter it subsists principally upon the refuse food and offal thrown out by the natives from their lodges. He describes it as cunning, but very tame and impudent, allowing a very near approach, and retiring but a short distance when pursued. Like the Raven and the Herring Gull, these birds are in the habit of carrying clams high into the air and then dropping them, in order to break the shell. Dr. Suckley observed one fruitlessly trying to break the shell of a clam by letting it drop on soft ground. In this effort he persisted perseveringly as long as he was watched.

Dr. Suckley found a nest of this species at Fort Dalles. It was situated in a dense willow-thicket, near a lagoon on the Columbia, and contained three eggs. He describes them as about an inch and a half long, and very wide in their short diameter, of a dirty green ground with brown spots.

Dr. Cooper speaks of it as much more gregarious and familiar than the common Crow, but otherwise resembling that bird in habits, being very sagacious, feeding upon almost everything animal and vegetable, differing rather in the tone than in the character of its cries. Its chief dependence for food being on the sea, it is generally found along the beach, devouring dead fish and other objects thrown up by the waves. At high tide the birds leave the shore and resort to dwellings near the sea, where they devour the offal and any refuse, vegetable or animal. As soon as the tide changes they are sure to notice it and to return to their favorite feeding-ground. They are very troublesome to the Indians, stealing their fish exposed for drying, and other articles of food. From some superstitious awe of them the Indians never molest these birds, but set their children to watch and drive them away. They build in trees near the shore, and the young are fledged in May.

In the southern half of California, Dr. Cooper states, these birds are rarely seen near the sea, preferring inland districts, and only occasionally coming to the shores of the bays to feed. During most of the year they associate in large flocks, feeding in company, and are gregarious even in the breeding-season, building in close proximity to one another. Frequently several nests may be found on the same tree. In this respect they are very unlike the eastern species, which never permit another pair near their nest.

These birds were found by Dr. Cooper breeding as far south as San Diego, where they selected for their breeding-places the groves of evergreen oaks growing in ravines. Their nests were from twelve to forty feet from the ground. In the north they generally build in spruces. He describes their nests as strongly built of sticks, coarse on the outside, but finer on the inside, where they are mingled with roots, grasses, moss, horse-hair, etc., to form a soft lining. The eggs, four in number, have a ground-color of a dark shade of green, thickly marked with dark brown and olive. He gives their average measurement as 1.60 by 1.10 inches. At San Diego they are laid about April 15.

Where unmolested, these birds have not yet become so shy as in the older districts, but they soon learn to apprehend the danger of a gun, and to evince the cunning characteristics of their tribe. They have not, as yet, manifested any disposition to disturb the growing crops, and the small depredations they commit are far more than counterbalanced by their destruction of immense numbers of grubs, grasshoppers, and other injurious insects. They obtain a large supply of food around the cattle-ranches.

In northern California they feed largely on fish, and on the Columbia on clams and oysters.

For reasons not well understood, they avoid particular districts during the breeding-season. Dr. Cooper has never noticed one, during this season, on the coast south of Santa Clara, has never seen one in the Colorado Valley, nor in the Sierra Nevada.

At Visalia, where an extensive forest of oaks forms an oasis in the great Tulare plain, he met with large flocks of these birds, with the same gregarious habits as were observed on the coast.

During the month of July, 1866, a large number of these Crows came every evening to roost in an alder-grove near the town of Santa Cruz. They gathered in long, continuous flocks from the neighboring fields, flying rather high. All at once they would descend, with zigzag turns, to the low trees, sportively chasing and pecking at one another, and chattering in the air.

Mr. John K. Lord, who enjoyed an unusually good opportunity of comparing the habits of our common Crow with those of this species, has not the slightest doubt as to their distinctness, though so very like in all essential respects, as far as color, form of bill, and other details are concerned. The smaller size of this bird, the difference in voice, and their habit of building with mud a domed nest, sufficiently demonstrate their difference. This Crow he found principally near the sea-coast; retiring to the trees at high tide, following out its ebb and retreating before its flood, they feed on any marine food they can find. The caw of this species reminded him of the Jackdaws of Europe. During the breeding-season they abandoned the coast, from early May resorting by pairs to the interior. Selecting patches of open prairie, they build their nests in the bushes of the crab-apple or wild thorn, and something in the manner of the Magpie, arching over the top with sticks, with two openings for entrance and exit on either side. The inside is plastered with mud, and lined with a few loose grass-stalks. The eggs he found generally small, and of a lighter color than those of the common Crow. After nesting, they return with their young to the sea-coast, and remain in large flocks. During the breeding-season they feed on small reptiles, freshwater mollusks, insects, grubs, etc. Mr. Lord noticed them capturing butterflies flying near their nests. Their eggs range in number from five to seven.

An egg of this species from Sitka measures 1.62 inches in length by 1.12 in breadth. It is of an oblong-oval shape, pointed at one end. The ground-color is a light sea-green, with marks and blotches of olive-brown, of varying size and different shades.

Corvus ossifragus, WILSON.

FISH CROW.

_Corvus ossifragus_, WILSON, Am. Orn. V, 1812, 27, pl. xxxvii, f.
2.—BON. Obs. Wils. 1825, No. 39.—IB. Syn. 1828, 57.—IB.
Conspectus, 1850, 385.—WAGLER, Syst. Avium, 1827, _Corvus_,
No. 12.—NUTTALL, Man. I, 1832, 216.—AUD. Orn. Biog. II, 1834,
268; V, 479, pl. cxlvi.—IB. Syn. 1839, 151.—IB. Birds Am. IV,
1842, 94, pl. ccxxvi.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 571, pl.
lxvii, f. 2.—SAMUELS, 363.—ALLEN, B. E. Fla. 297.

SP. CHAR. Fourth quill longest; second rather longer than seventh; first shorter than the ninth. Glossy black, with green and violet reflections; the gloss of the belly greenish. Length, about 15.50; wing, 10.50; tail, less than 7.00; tarsus shorter than the middle toe and claw.

HAB. Atlantic coast, from New Jersey to Florida.

The Fish Crow of the Atlantic States is readily distinguishable from the common Crow by the much smaller size (16 inches instead of 20; wing, about 11 inches instead of 13); the bill is broader at the base and tapers more rapidly to the end; the middle toe and claw are longer than the scutellate portion of the tarsus, not shorter, the inner claw not reaching to the base of the middle one. The tail is less rounded. The gloss on the belly is green instead of violet; that on the back is mixed with green, not entirely violet.

HABITS. The Fish Crow of Eastern North America has a distribution restricted to the Southern Atlantic and the Gulf shore. It is found in the States of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida, and, according to Audubon, thence to the mouth of the Mississippi. West of that river it appears to be very rarely met with. Dr. Würdemann obtained it at Calcasieu, La. Mr. Allen, in a list of the birds of Massachusetts, published in 1864, names this species as an occasional visitor along the southern coast of that State, but I am not able to find any corroboration of the statement, and believe it to be a mistake. Dr. De Kay, in his Report on the birds of New York, states that this Crow is occasionally seen on the shores of Long Island, but Mr. Lawrence is confident that it never occurs farther north than Squaw Beach, in New Jersey. So, too, Mr. Townsend is quoted by both Audubon and Nuttall as authority for its occurrence on the Columbia River, of which we have no confirmation.

This species was first described by Wilson, who met with it and observed its habits on the sea-coast of Georgia. In some respects its habits were the exact reverse of those of the common Crow, as the former regularly retired at evening into the interior to roost, and came down to the shores of the river Savannah, on the first appearance of day, to feed. Its voice first attracted his notice; there was something in it very different from the utterances of the Crow, being more hoarse and guttural, and more varied in its modulations. The mode of flight was also observed to be quite different, as the Fish Crow occasionally soars about in the manner of the Raven and of Hawks, without flapping its wings,—a flight which the Crow is never observed to make, and is probably not able to execute.

The food was also observed to be unlike, as well as the manner of procuring it. The favorite haunt of this species seemed to be the banks of the river, up and down which they soared, and in a very dexterous manner snatched up with their claws dead fish, or other garbage found floating on the surface. This Crow was also seen to perch frequently on the back of cattle, in the manner of the Jackdaw of Europe. It was never seen to mingle with the common Crows; and never, like the latter, roosts among the reeds and marshes near the water, but always seeks the shelter of the woods, in which to pass the night.

Afterwards, in his journey near the Mississippi, Wilson observed the same birds frequenting the borders of rivers and ponds, and feeding on the reptiles found in those waters. They were close attendants upon the cow-yards, and were more solitary, but much less shy and suspicious, than the common Crow. This species was also observed by Wilson in Cape May County, New Jersey, and in the regions bordering on the Schuylkill and the Delaware, near Philadelphia, during the shad and herring fishing, or from March till June.

During the breeding-season they were observed to separate into pairs, and to build their nests in tall trees near the sea or the river shore. One of their nests was in a tall wood at Great Egg Harbor, and they were presumed to have four or five young at a time.

In the District of Columbia, Dr. Coues found the Fish Crow to be an abundant resident throughout the year, less wary and suspicious than the common Crow, and more confined to the borders of rivers. It was generally confounded with _C. americanus_.

The Fish Crow appears to have received, even if it does not merit, an exemption from the general unpopularity of its race. It is generally believed to be at least a harmless species, and in its destruction of reptiles and vermin to be even beneficial. This belief, we apprehend, is for the most part well founded. Yet Mr. Audubon accuses these Crows of entering gardens and feeding upon the best fruits. He also states that, near Charleston, they commit such depredations upon the ripe figs, and become so troublesome generally in the gardens, that it is often found necessary to station a man near the fig-trees to shoot and destroy them.

The Fish Crow is confined either to the maritime districts or to the banks of rivers branching from them. Audubon states that they ascend the Delaware to quite a distance, and that some breed in New Jersey every year, but that all retire to the South on the approach of cold weather. Some go up the Mississippi to the distance of five hundred miles, but return to the seashore in the winter. In East Florida, where they were very abundant, Mr. Audubon found them breeding in February, in South Carolina on the 20th of March, and in New Jersey a month later. On the St. John’s River, during February, he saw them in flocks of several hundred, but all seemed mated and to move in pairs, sailing high in the air in the manner of Ravens. After these aerial excursions the whole body descended to the water’s edge to feed. When their fishing was over, they would alight in flocks on the live-oaks near the shore, and there keep up their gabbling, while they plumed themselves, for hours. They then returned to their fishing-grounds, where they remained until near sunset, moving into the interior to great distances, to roost on the loblolly-pines. These retreats were made in silence, but their return to the sea-shore in the early morning was made with noisy and lively demonstrations. They were then to be seen among the bays, rivers, salt ponds, and marshes, searching for small fry, and picking up any garbage they might find.

Mr. Audubon also accuses them of robbing other birds of their eggs and young. This was especially observed on the Florida Keys, where they even dared to plunder the nests of the Cormorants and White Ibis. They feed largely on the small crabs called fiddlers, which they pursue and easily capture in their burrows. He has also seen them attack and pursue small Gulls and Terns, and attempt to make them disgorge the fish they have caught; but as the flight of the latter is swifter, they are frequently unsuccessful in these attempts at robbery. This Crow can catch living fish with considerable dexterity, but cannot feed while on the wing.

During the winter and early spring, Mr. Audubon states that these birds feed on various kinds of berries, especially those of the _Ilex cassina_ and of the common holly, and those of the exotic tallow-tree, now so common near Charleston (_Stillingia sebifera_). In January and February these trees are much resorted to by the Crows, who greedily devour their white and oily seeds.

Mr. Audubon found these birds breeding generally on moderate-sized trees of the loblolly-pine, building their nests towards the extremities of the branches, about twenty feet from the ground. The nests are smaller than those of the Crow, and are built of sticks, lined with dry grasses and moss, and neatly finished with fine fibrous roots. The eggs are five or six in number, and resemble those of the Crow, but are smaller.

Two eggs of this species, from St. Simon’s Island, measure, one 1.50 in length by 1.10 in breadth, the other 1.52 by 1.09. Their ground-color is a light blue with a slight greenish tinge, marked over the entire egg with small blotches of a light brown. An egg from Great Egg Harbor, obtained by Wilson, from the old Peale Museum, and which may be a faded specimen, has no tinge of blue or green, but a ground of pinkish-gray, marked with smaller blotches and cloudings of dark drab. It measures 1.46 inches in length by one inch in breadth.

GENUS PICICORVUS, BONAP.

_Picicorvus_, BONAPARTE, Consp. Av. 1850, 384. (Type, _Corvus
columbianus_, WILS.)

GEN. CHAR. Leaden-gray color, with black wings and tail. Bill longer than the head, considerably longer than the tarsus, attenuated, slightly decurved; tip without notch. Culmen and commissure curved; gonys straight or slightly concave, as long as the tarsi. Nostrils circular, completely covered by a full tuft of incumbent white bristly feathers. Tail much shorter than the wings, nearly even or slightly rounded. Wings pointed, reaching to the tip of tail. Third, fourth, and fifth quills longest. Tarsi short, scarcely longer than the middle toe, the hind toe and claw very large, reaching nearly to the middle of the middle claw, the lateral toe little shorter. A row of small scales on the middle of the sides of tarsus. Color of the single species leaden-gray, with black wings and tail.

[Line drawing: _Picicorvus columbianus._
4461]

[Line drawing: _Nucifraga caryocatactes._
9673]

This genus is so similar to _Nucifraga_ as to be hardly separable; the principal difference being in the slender and more decurved and attenuated bill, with a slightly concave, instead of convex, culmen, and plain instead of spotted plumage. The differences of form are expressed by the accompanying outlines of the generic features of the two. But one species is known, this being peculiar to Western North America.

Picicorvus columbianus, BONAP.

CLARKE’S CROW.

_Corvus columbianus_, WILSON, Am. Orn. III, 1811, 29, pl. xx.—BON.
Obs. Wilson, 1824, No. 38.—IB. Syn. 1828, 57.—NUTTALL, I,
1832, 218. _Nucifraga columbiana_, AUD. Orn. Biog. IV, 1838,
459, pl. ccclxii.—IB. Syn. 1839, 156.—IB. Birds Am. IV, 1842,
127, pl. ccxxxv.—BON. List, 1838.—NUTTALL, Man. I, (2d ed.,)
251. _Picicorvus columbianus_, BONAP. Consp. 1850,
384.—NEWBERRY, P. R. R. Rep. VI, IV, 1837, 83.—BAIRD, Birds
N. Am. 1858, 573.—LORD, Pr. R. A. Inst. IV, 121 (British
Columbia).—DALL & BANNISTER, Tr. Chic. Ac. I, 1869,
286.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 289. “_Corvus megonyx_,
WAGLER.”

SP. CHAR. Tail rounded or moderately graduated, the closed wings reaching nearly to its tip. Fourth quill longest; second considerably shorter than the sixth. General color bluish-ash, changing on the nasal feathers, the forehead, sides of head (especially around the eye), and chin, to white. The wings, including their inner surface, greenish-black, the secondaries and tertials, except the innermost, broadly tipped with white; tail white, the inner web of the fifth feather and the whole of the sixth, with the upper tail-coverts, greenish-black. The axillars plumbeous-black. Bill and feet black. Young similar in color, without additional markings of any kind. The gonys, however, convex, and the bill generally more like that of the Jays. Length of male (fresh), 12.00; wing, 7.00; tail, 4.30; tarsus, 1.20.

HAB. From Rocky Mountains to Pacific. East to Fort Kearney, north to Sitka, south to Arizona.

HABITS. Clarke’s Crow was first met with by the parties composing the celebrated exploring party to the Rocky Mountains under the direction of Lewis and Clarke. It was described by Wilson in 1811, who was informed by individuals belonging to the expedition that these birds were found inhabiting the shores of the Columbia and the adjacent country in great numbers, frequenting the rivers and sea-shore, and that it seemed to have all the noisy and gregarious habits of the common Crow of Europe.

In his account of this species, Mr. Nuttall states that during his journey westward in the month of July, he first observed individuals of this bird in a small grove of pines on the borders of Bear River, near where it falls into Lake Timpanagos. This was at a height of about seven thousand feet above the sea level, and in the 42d parallel. Their habits appeared to him to correspond with those of the Nutcrackers of Europe.

He afterwards saw a considerable flock of the young birds early in August, in a lofty ravine near the Three Buttes, a remarkable isolated mountain group about forty miles west of the Lewis River. They appeared somewhat shy, and were scattered through a grove of aspens, flying, with a slight chatter, from the tops of bushes and trees, to the ground. He was of the opinion that this species never descends below the mountain plains, but that it has a constant predilection for the pine forests.

Mr. Townsend afterwards found this species abundant on the Blue Mountains of Oregon. He describes its flight as very unlike that of a Crow, being performed in jerks, in the manner of a Woodpecker. At times, when sitting, it is said to keep up a constant scream, in a very harsh and grating voice, and in an unvaried and prolonged tone. He states that it breeds in very high pine-trees, and that he did not meet with it within five hundred miles of the Columbia River.

Mr. Ridgway found this species one of the most abundant birds of the pine forests of the Sierra Nevada. East of this range it was also met with, though only in smaller numbers, in the cedar and piñon woods of the East Humboldt Mountains. He adds that it is a bird so curiously striking as at once to attract attention. It bears but very little resemblance to any bird of its family, and in its general appearance, flight, and notes approaches so nearly to the Woodpeckers as to be usually known to the settlers as a bird of that tribe.

He further remarks that its flight much resembles that of _Melanerpes torquatus_, and, as it alights from the top of a tall dead tree, and sits quietly gazing around, it might readily be mistaken for one of the _Picidæ_. He describes them as being very active in their movements, now flying from a tree to the ground to pick up some article of food, now examining the excavations of an old dead stump or snag, or, on being approached, as flying up and alighting upon the extreme summit of a tree, out of gunshot. It is a very noisy bird, and its notes are harsh and discordant, though less so than are those of the Steller’s Jay, which is generally seen in the same localities. Its usual note is a harsh guttural _churr-churr_, generally uttered when two or more alight on the same tree. Occasionally an individual takes up a peculiar piping strain, which is immediately answered by all the others in the neighborhood, thus awakening the echoes of the surrounding solitude with their discordant cries. In regard to its nest he can give no positive information, but thinks that they breed in cavities in old dead trees and stumps, having found a nest in such a situation in the East Humboldt Mountains, which he thinks belonged to a pair of these birds which were flying about, and seen to enter this cavity.

Dr. Newberry, in his Report on the zoölogy of his route, states that he found this species rather common along a large portion of it, and was thus enabled to study its habits at leisure. He found it strictly confined to the highlands and mountains, never, where he saw it, descending to a lower altitude than about four thousand feet. On the other hand, while crossing the Cascade Mountains at the line of perpetual snow, seven thousand feet above the sea-level, he has seen this bird, in company with the _Melanerpes torquatus_, flying over the snow-covered peaks three thousand feet above him.

He first met with this bird on the spur of the Sierra Nevada, near Lassen’s Butte, and found it constantly, when in high and timbered regions, from there to the Columbia. He describes its habits as a compound, in about equal parts of those of the Jays and of the Woodpeckers. Its cry he speaks of as particularly harsh and disagreeable, something like that of Steller’s Jay, but louder and more discordant. It seems to combine the shrewdness with all the curiosity of the Jays and Crows, and from its shyness is a very difficult bird to shoot, the Doctor never being able to get directly within killing distance of one of them, but only obtaining specimens by concealing himself and waiting for them to approach him. Apparently from excess of caution, it almost invariably alights on a dry tree. Even when going to a living tree for its food, it always flies first into a dry one, if one is near, to reconnoitre, and, if the coast is clear, it begins to feed. At the first movement of an intruder, without uttering a note, it puts a safe distance between itself and its enemy.

The food of this bird, at the time when Dr. Newberry visited its haunts, consisted exclusively of the seeds of the yellow pine (_P. ponderosa_), in dislodging which from the cones the bird displays great dexterity. Both Maximilian’s Jay and Steller’s Jay were, at that time, feeding on the same seeds, but not so exclusively.

Dr. Suckley obtained a specimen of this bird as far east as Milk River, in Nebraska, about two hundred miles east of the Rocky Mountains.

In crossing the Cascade Mountains, in 1853, Dr. Cooper found these birds quite abundant on the banks of the Yakima River, and from thence north wherever there were trees of the long-leaved pine, the seeds of which were its principal food. On returning to Vancouver during the severe cold weather of the following January, these birds appeared there in considerable numbers. At no other season of the year has he met with them west of the Cascade Mountains, and believes these migrations westward are only made in the severest weather. They extend eastward throughout Washington Territory, as Dr. Cooper has shot them at Fort Laramie, and met with a straggling pair even as far east as Fort Kearney. Dr. Cooper has never known these birds to eat anything except seeds and berries. They rarely descend to the ground, and never frequent river-banks, or other places, for fish or carrion. They may be seen on the tops of trees extracting seeds from cones, hanging head downwards, like a Chickadee. Dr. Cooper has observed this bird pecking at dead bark, in quest of insects. When feeding they are very shy, flying off, if approached, to a great distance before alighting. They are not known to visit the Coast Mountains south of San Francisco, but abound in the Rocky Mountains throughout our limits.

Mr. J. K. Lord notes the arrival of this species at Fort Colville, in May, in large flocks. They were hopping busily from branch to branch, amidst pine-trees.

The statement made to Wilson that this species frequents rivers and seashores, and his inference that its formidable claws indicated that they feed on living animals, is controverted by Mr. Lord. They never frequent river-banks, never by any chance eat fish, and never capture any living thing. Their habits are strictly arboreal, and their food the seeds of pine-trees. These noisy seed-hunters use their formidable claws to enable them to hang on to the pine cones while they are extracting the seed, which they are obliged to get out from under scaly coverings. For this nature has given them feet and claws that serve the purpose of hands, and a powerful bill, like a small crowbar. The cone must be steadied when they pry it open, or it would snap and fall. One foot clasps it, and the powerful claws hold it firmly. The other foot, encircling a branch, supports the bird in every possible position, the long grasping claws being equal to any emergency. The cone is thus fixed, and the seeds are forced out from under the scales. Mr. Lord collected a large packet of seeds of the _Abies douglassi_ from the crops of these birds.

On their arrival they assemble in immense flocks, and the noise they make he describes as a most discordant, continuous, grating clatter, intensified at times into a perfect shriek. These assemblies last about a week, after which they separate in pairs.

A nest of this bird was found by Mr. Lord in the top of a lofty pine at least two hundred feet high,—felled in cutting the boundary line. By chance he discovered the nest, about which the old birds were hovering, leaving no doubt of its identity. This nest was very large and composed of fir twigs, bits of bark, the leaves of the pine, fine root-fibres, with small pieces of moss, and gray lichens mixed carelessly with the other materials. It was shallow and round, and presented a large extent of surface beyond the margins of the hollow containing the eggs. The eggs were in fragments, much like the eggs of Steller’s Jay in color, but of a lighter shade of bluish-green. He thinks that their habit is to build in the very tallest pines.

Dr. Kennerly also met with this Crow west of Albuquerque, in New Mexico, in the thick pine woods skirting the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains, where it was quite abundant. He rarely saw more than two or three together. None were met with after leaving the mountains.

A single specimen of this crow was obtained at Sitka, by Bischoff.

GENUS GYMNOKITTA, PR. MAX.

_Gymnorhinus_, PR. MAX. Reise Nord. Amer. II, 1841, 21. (Type, _G.
cyanocephala_.)
_Gymnokitta_, PR. MAX. “1850,” GRAY.
_Cyanocephalus_, BONAP. “1842,” preoccupied in Botany.

[Line drawing: _Gymnokitta cyanocephala._
16247]

GEN. CHAR. Bill elongated, depressed, shorter than the tarsus, longer than the head, without notch, similar to that of _Sturnella_ in shape. Culmen nearly straight; commissure curved; gonys ascending. Nostrils small, oval, entirely exposed, the bristly feathers at the base of the bill being very minute. Tail short, nearly even, much shorter than the pointed wings, which cover three fourths of the tail. Tarsi considerably longer than the middle toe. Color of the single species blue, most intense anteriorly; the throat streaked with white.

The bill in this genus is not unlike that of _Sturnus_ and _Sturnella_, and conspicuous among _Corvinæ_ by its uncovered nostrils.

Gymnokitta cyanocephala, PR. MAX.

MAXIMILIAN’S JAY.

_Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus_, PR. MAXIMILIAN, Reise in das innere
Nord-Amerika, II, 1841, 21.—IB. Voyage dans l’Am. du Nord,
III, 1843, 296. _Gymnokitta cyanocephala_, “PR. MAX. 1850,” BP.
Conspectus, 1850, 382.—CASSIN, Illust. I, VI, 1854, 165, pl.
xxviii.—NEWBERRY, Rep. P. R. R. VI, IV, 1857, 83.—BAIRD,
Birds N. Am. 1858, 574.—MAX. Cab. J. VI, 1858, 193.—COOPER,
Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 292. _Psilorhinus cyanocephalus_, GRAY,
Genera. _Cyanocorax cassini_, M’CALL, Pr. A. N. Sc. V, June,
1851, 216.

SP. CHAR. Wings considerably longer than the tail, and reaching to within an inch of its tip. Tail nearly even. General color dull blue, paler on the abdomen, the middle of which is tinged with ash; the head and neck of a much deeper and more intense blue, darker on the crown. Chin and forepart of the throat whitish, streaked with blue. Length, 10.00; wing, 5.90; tail, 4.50; tarsus, 1.50. Young bird not differing in markings.

HAB. Rocky Mountains of Colorado, to Cascade Mts. of California and Oregon. Not on the Pacific coast? South to New Mexico and Arizona.

The female is appreciably different from the male, both in size and plumage, being smaller, and of a light bluish-ash tint. This difference is readily appreciable when the birds are seen flying.

HABITS. Maximilian’s Jay was discovered and first described by that eminent naturalist, Maximilian, Prince of Wied, in his book of travels in North America, published in 1841. Mr. Edward Kern, who was connected with Colonel Fremont’s exploring expedition in 1846, was the first to bring specimens of this interesting and remarkable bird to the notice of American naturalists, transmitting them to the Philadelphia Academy. The specimens procured by its discoverer were met with by him on Maria’s River, one of the tributaries of the Upper Missouri, in the extreme northern portion of our northwestern territory, a point much farther north than it has been met with by any other naturalist. As this species has since been seen in large numbers in New Mexico, it may be presumed to extend its movements over quite an extended area of distribution in the region of the Rocky Mountains.