FAMILY CorvidcE 



the arid plains, being common along willow 

 bordered streams or about the irrigated dis- 

 tricts from Montana to California. It rarely 

 straggles over into the valleys west of the 

 mountains, although occasionally follow- 

 ing the Columbia River down to the 

 Willamette. 



The magpie builds its nest in a scrubby 

 tree or bush, a mud cup lined with grass, hair 

 and pine needles, surrounded by a mass of 

 coarse sticks built in a globular form with an 

 opening at the side. The nest is often as 

 large as a bushel basket. In manners and 

 food habits the magpie strongly resembles 

 the crow. 



Western crow, Corvus brachyrhyn- 

 ckos hesperis. 19.00 



Distribution: Western North America 

 from northern British Columbia south to 

 Mexican border, and from the Rocky Moun- 

 tains to the Pacific Coast, except the coast 

 district from the Columbia River northward, 

 which is the home of the northwestern crow. 

 The western crow in every way resembles 

 the other members of the family, differing 

 from its eastern relative only in its smaller 

 size. It does not collect in the great roosts 

 so common in the eastern states but lives in 

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