132 SINGING BIRDS. 



lizards in the same manner, and feed upon small crabs ; at 

 times they are seen even contending with the Gulls for their 

 prey. It is amusing to see with what steady watchfulness they 

 hover over the water in search of their precarious food, having, 

 in fact, all the traits of the Gull ; but they subsist more on 

 accidental supplies than by any regular system of fishing. On 

 land they have sometimes all the familiarity of the Magpie, 

 hopping upon the backs of cattle, in whose company they no 

 doubt occasionally meet with a supply of insects when other 

 sources fail. They are also regular in their attendance on the 

 fishermen of New Jersey for the purpose of gleaning up the 

 refuse of the fish. They are less shy and suspicious than 

 the common Crow, and showing no inclination for plundering 

 the cornfields, are rather friends than enemies to the farmer. 

 They appear near Philadelphia from the middle of March to 

 the beginning of June, during the season of the shad and herring 

 fishery. 



The habitat now accorded to this species is " the Atlantic and 

 Gulf States north to Long Island and west to Louisiana." It 

 probably occurs occasionally along the Connecticut shore, and may 

 straggle into Massachusetts ; though Mr. Allen has omitted it from 

 his list. 



On the Pacific coast it is replaced by ,C caurinus. 



All Crows are more or less fish-eaters, and in some localities fish 

 forms their staple diet. On the shores of Cape Breton, near the 

 coal districts, the fish-eating Crows are separated by the natives 

 from the common sort. It is said that the flight and voice of these 

 birds can be readily distinguished. Some m.iners working at 

 Lepreaux, in New Brunswick, who were familiar with the fish- 

 eating Crows of Cape Breton, drew my attention to a flock of 

 apparently small and peculiar-voiced Crows gleaning along the 

 shores ; but though easily trapped by a fish bait, they proved to 

 be nothinsf more than rather small common Crows. 



Note. — The American Magpie {Pica pica luidsonica^ is a 

 Western and Northwestern bird, and occurs as a straggler only 

 east of the Mississippi. It has been taken in Michigan, northern 

 Illinois, and western Ontario ; also at Chambly, near Montreal. 



