488 CORVIDA. 
2. Corvus cryptoleucus. 
Corvus cryptoleucus, Couch, Pr. Ac. Phil. 1854, p. 66°; Baird, Mex. Bound. Surv. Zool. ii., Birds,. 
p. 20°; Dresser, Ibis, 1865, p. 494°; Baird, Brew., & Ridgw. N. Am. B. p. 242+. 
The fourth quill is longest ; the third and fifth equal; the second longer than the sixth; the first equal to the 
seventh. Glossy black with violet reflections, feathers of neck all round black, and breast snow white at 
the base. Length about 21:00, wing 14:00, tail 8°50. Feathers of the throat lanceolate; bristly 
feathers along the base of the bill, covering it for nearly two thirds of its length. (Baird, Brew., and 
Ridgw. N. Am. B. ii. p. 242.) 
Hab. NortuH America along the southern border of the United States.—Mexico, 
Tamaulipas (Couch 1), Janos (Kennerly 2), Charco Escondido (Couch 2). 
This species was described from Mexican specimens obtained during the United 
States Boundary Survey, and it appears to be not uncommon in the States of Northern 
Mexico, in the valley of the Rio Grande, and in that of the Gila, but nothing is known 
of it in Central or Southern Mexico. We have no specimen of this species, nor are: 
there any in the British Museum, and we have nothing to add to the account given in 
the ‘ History of the North-American Birds.’ 
8. Corvus mexicanus. 
Corvus mexicanus, Gm. Syst. Nat. i. p. 375"; Licht. Preis-Verz. mex. Vég. p.1, cf. J. f. Orn. 
1863, p. 56°; Baird, Brew., & Ridgw. N. Am. B. ii. p. 233°; Lawr. Mem. Bost. Soc. N. H. 
li. p. 283 *. 
Nitente purpurascente-niger ; capite summo magis purpurascente; corpore subtus eneo-viridi micante; rostro: 
et pedibus nigris. Long. tota 14:0, ale 10-3, caude 6:5, rostri a rictu 1°8, tarsi 1-7. (Deser. maris ex 
Mazatlan, Mexico. Mus. nostr.) 
Hab. Mexico} (Deppe?), Mazatlan (Grayson +, Xantus *). 
This pretty little Crow, which has been identified with the Corvus mexicanus of 
Gmelin, is distinguished by the lustre of its plumage, which is almost exactly of the 
same tint as that of the male of Quiscalus macrurus. Its range appears to be very 
restricted, and we only know of its occurrence at Mazatlan and at San Blas, on the sea- 
coast of North-western Mexico. Grayson says that it is quite common at the latter 
place, where it breeds, forming its nest in the tall cocoa-nut palms that grow in the 
town ; he also found it breeding in similar situations in the suburbs of Mazatlan: but 
it is more numerous on the Mazatlan river, where he found its nest in the thorny 
Mimosa-trees. The nest is composed of small sticks and grass, much like that of the 
Common Crow (C. americanus) ; the eggs, too, are much like those of that species, only 
smaller. Its habits resemble those of the Common Crow, though the present species 
is a little more arboreal, feeding on the various kinds of fruits which it finds in the 
tropical forests. Like the Common Crow, however, it often descends to the ground in 
search of insects and their larve, which it hunts for by turning up bits of wood and in 
the newly-ploughed fields; but it may more frequently be seen upon the shore at low 
