262 LAND-BIRDS AKD GAME-BIRDS 



§ 18. The CorvidSB include the crows, ravens, rooks, daws, 

 pies, and jays. All those of the eastern United States are 

 characterized as follows : More than seven inches long ; bill 

 very stout, but pointed ; nostrils concealed ; tarsi scutellate ; 

 primaries ten, with the first short and only half as long as the 

 second. The sexes are alike in coloration. 



The crows and jays are the most nearly omnivorous of our 

 birds, and much the most mischievous. Like the blackbirds, 

 they arc social, more or less gregarious, noisy, and almost 

 wholly unmusical. Moreover, they are partially migratory. 

 They build comparatively neat nests of sticks, etc., generally 

 in evergreens. Their eggs are most often green (or brown), 

 darkly spotted ; with four, five, or sometimes six, in a set. In 

 this climate, but one brood is usually raised. 



Our Corvidce are divided into two subfamilies : 



Corvince or crows (genus 1). Wings much longer than the 

 tail ; feet large and stout ; colors dull, or dark and lustrous. 



GarruUnce or jays (II and III). Wings not longer than the 

 tail ; feet comparative!}^ weak ; colors dull or bright (chiefly 

 blue) ; birds often crested. 



I. CORVUS 



(A) AMERicANUs.^s Cvoiv. Commou Croii). 



(A common resident throughout New England.) 



(a). Twenty inches long or less. Lustrous black; reflec- 

 tions chiefly violet. 



(6). The nest is placed from twenty to eighty feet above 

 the ground, commonly in a pine (or a cedar), and often so as 



88Tlie Raven {C corax) does not now occur in New England, unless in the 

 extreme North-east. It is twenty-four inches long, lustrous black, "with the 

 throiit-feathcrs acute, lengthened, disconnected." The Fish Cyow {,C. ossifragus) 

 may occasionally occur on the shores of Connecticut. It is sixteen inches lon^ or 

 less. Wilson says Uiat their voice is " hoarse and guttural, uttered as if something 



stuck in their throat, and varied into several modulations ," and that they 



frequently sail "without flapping the wings, something in the manner of the 

 Raven." Mr. Wni. Brewster is confident that he saw a Fish Crow at Cambridge 

 " on the morning of ilarch IGth, 1875." 



