THE NORTHWEST CROW. 13 



Common Crow, but averaging smaller. A typical set averages 1.56 x 1.08 

 (39.6 X 27.4). Season: April 15-June i ; one brood. 



General Range. — .\merican coasts of the North Pacific Ocean and its 

 estuaries from C)lympia and the mouth of the Columbia River north at least to 

 the Alaskan peninsula. 



Range in Washington. — Shores and islands of Puget Sound, the Straits 

 of Juan de Fuca, and the West Coast (at least as far south as Moclips, presum- 

 ably to Cape Disappointment). Strictly resident. 



Authorities. — [Lewis and Clark, Hist. Ex. ( 1814), ed. Biddle : Coues, Vol. 

 n. p. 185.] Corvus cauriniis Baird. Baird, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv. IX. June 29, 

 1858, 569, 570. T. C&S. L'. Rh. Kb. Ra. Kk. B. E. 



Specimens. — U. of W. Prov. E. B. 



AFTER lengthy discussion it is pretty well settled that the Crow of the 

 northwestern sea-coasts is merely a dwarfed race of the Coi-vus brachyrhynclios 

 group ; and that it shades perfect!}' into the prevailing western type, C. b. hcs- 

 peris, wherever that species occupies adjacent regions. This area of inter- 

 gradation lies chiefly south and west of Puget Sound, in Washington ; for the 

 Crow is ever fond of the half-open country, and does not take kindly tO' the 

 unmitigated forest depths, save where, as in the case of the Fish Crow, he may 

 find relief upon the broad expanses of shore and tide-flats. The case is quite 

 analogous to. that of native man. The larger, more robust types were found in 

 the eastern interior, while those tribes \\-hich were confined exclusively to 

 residence upon the sea-shore tended to beccnne dwarfed and stunted : and the 

 region of intergradation lay not chiefly along the western slopes of the 

 Cascades with their crushing weight of tall timber, but in the prairie regions 

 bordering Puget Sound upon the south. 



It is impossible, therefore, to pronounce with certainty upon the sub- 

 specific identity of Crows seen near shore in Mason. Thurston, Pierce, or even 

 King County; but in Clallam, Jefferson, San Juan, and the other counties of 

 the Northwest, one has no' difficulty in recognizing the dwarf race. Not only 

 are these Cro^ws much smaller in point of size, but the voice is weaker, flatter, 

 and more hoarse, as thoi affected by an ever-present fog. So' marked is this 

 vocal change, that one may note the dift'erence lietween birds seen along shore 

 in Pierce County and those which fref|uent the uplands. However, — and this 

 caution must be noted — the upland l>irds di> visit the shore on occasion; and 

 the regular shore dwellers are l>v no' means confined thereto., as are the more 

 typical birds foimd further north. 



The early observers were feeling for these differences, and if Nature did 

 not afford sufficient ground for easy discrimination, imagination could supply 

 the details. The following paragraph from the much quoted work^ of John 

 Keast Lord is interesting Ijecause deliciously untrue. 



a. "Tlie Naturalist in Vancouver Island and British Columbia," by John Keast Lord. Two Vols. 

 London. Published by Richard Bentley, 1866. Vol. II.. p. 70. 



