248 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



tail is sliuit ;uul very nearly even, the diHereiice in length of feathers being 

 less tliau h:ilf an inch, instead of an incli. This, however, may in part be 

 owing to the absence of the middle pair. 



The colors diii'cr somewhat from those of the common Crow. There is 

 less violet, and tlie feathers of the back have almost a brassy gloss on iheir 

 margins, as in Crolopha'ja. 



The specimen upon which tiiese remarlvs are based, thougli apparently 

 perfectly mature, is changing some of its feathers, such as the inner prima- 

 ries, the middle tail-featliers, and the gi'eater 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 tlie extreme southern piortion of Florida, 

 not far from Fort Dallas. 



No comparison of this Ijird is required with tlie Fish Crow, which lias 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 pecu- 

 liarities differing from the northern species, that Professor Baird, in his 

 liirds of America, deemetl 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 ha^'ing full-fledged young on the 20th of 

 April. Three eggs of this race, obtained in Florida in the spring of 1871, 

 by Mr. JMaynard, 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 l..'i-4 by 1.25. Their ground-color is a bright bluish-green, 

 and they are all more or less marked, over the entire egg, with Idotches 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 lieing nearly free from markings. Tlieii- 

 average capacity, as compared with the a^■erage of the C. amcrkanus, is as 

 5.1 to 4.2. 



Corvus caiirinus, Baiud. 



NORTHWESTERK FISH CEOW. 



Corvus caurinxs, Baikd, Birds N. Am. 1858, 569, pi. xxiv. — Cooper & Sitkley, 211, 

 pi. xxiv. — Dall & Bannister, Tr. Chic. Ac. I, 1869, 286 (Alaska). — Finsch, Abh. 

 Nat. Ill, 1872, 41 (Alaska). — Cooper, Orn. Cal. I, 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 

 th.an middle toe and claw. Length about 1G.50 ; wing about 11.00; tail about 7.00. 



Hab. Northwestern coast, from Cohimbia River to Sitka. 



