FLORIDA CROW 261 



slender longleaf pines. Arthur H. Howell (1932) says: "The nests 

 are frequently placed in oak trees in the hammocks, sometimes in pine 

 trees near the border of a cypress swamp, or in a lone tree on the 

 prairie, 7 to 40 (rarely 60) feet above the ground. They are composed 

 of oak twigs and Spanish moss, and lined with horse hair, cabbage- 

 palm fiber, and small pieces of bark." 



Bendire (1895) says of some nests c.ollected by Dr. Ralph: "Several 

 nests were found by him in tall, slender pine trees in low, flat pine 

 woods, usually bordering on swamps. The nests were located in the 

 tops of trees, on horizontal limbs, and close to the trunk, at distances 

 varying from 45 to 70 feet from the ground. They are usually com- 

 posed of small sticks, lined first with Spanish moss and then with 

 strips of cypress bark ; occasionally a few feathers from the sitting 

 bird, hair from cows* tails, bunches of fine grass, and grass with the 

 rootlets attached entered into the composition of the linings, and in one 

 instance the eggs were laid on about half a pint of fine rotten wood. 

 The nests average in measurement about 24 by 9 inches in outer diam- 

 eter, the inner cup being about 16 incjies in width by 5 inches in depth'" 

 [the 9 inches probably refers to the height and not the diameter]. 



Harold H. Bailey (1925) says that they nest in "almost every kind 

 of tree from mangrove, gumbo limbo, and cabbage palm of southern 

 keys to pine, oak, and hardwood trees" farther north. 



Eggs. — This crow lays three to six eggs, most commonly four or five, 

 which are indistinguishable, except for a slight average difference in 

 size, from the eggs of other crows. The measurements of 40 eggs in 

 the United States National Museum average 41.1 by 28.7 millimeters; 

 the eggs showing the four extremes measure 45.5 by 20.2, 43.2 by 30.9, 

 37.7 by 29.0, and 40.6 by 20.2 millimeters. 



Food. — Mr. Bailey (1925) says: "They have little chance [in south- 

 ern Florida] to feed on or destroy the farmers' grain, or work in the 

 plowed areas for insect life, but resort to food such as frogs, lizards, 

 small snakes, large grasshoppers, and snails; while during the breeding 

 season the colonies of herons, ibis, anhinga, and other water birds a''e 

 robbed of eggs or even small young. In every part of the country 

 where I have studied them, I have found them very destructive birds 

 as a whole." 



Behavior. — The habits of the Florida crow are much like those of 

 crows elsewhere, though it seems to be tamer and more sociable, less 

 shy, probably because it does less damage to crops and is not persecuted 

 so much as are the more northern subspecies. D. Mortimer (1890) 

 writes : 



It is common to see it feeding about the streets and vacant lots of Sanford. 



667497—46—18 



