488 SYSTEMA TIC SYXOPSIS. — PASSERES— OSCINES. 



Smaller than the Raven; length 19.00-21.00; wing 13.25-14.25 ; tail 7.50-8.50 ; bill along- 

 culineu 2.00-2.25, its depth at base about 0.85 ; tarsus 2.25-2.50 ; thus this Raven is about as 

 large as a good-sized Crow, and often mistaken for one in those regions where it occurs with the 

 common Raven, the difference between them being obvious in life; the accounts of " Crows"' 

 in some regions where americanus does not omm being based upon the presence of cryptoleucus. 

 Southwestern U. S., Llano Estacado, and higher Rio Grande of Texas, Indian Territory, Okla- 

 homa, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, and 

 some portions of California ; S. some little distance in Mexico. Nest in trees and bushes, at 

 no great height, and resembling that of the common Crow. Eggs 3-8, usually 4, 5 or 6, averag- 

 ing 1.75 X 1-20, ranging from 1.90 X 1-30 to 1.50 X 1.10; ground color greenish or grayish, 

 markings lighter and fewer than is usual in this genus, with a tendency to be lengthwise 

 streaky rather than spotty ; some eggs are almost unmarked, but as a rule the brown, purplish, 

 and neutral tints are conspicuous. They are laid late in May, and in June, sometimes in April. 

 C. america'nus. (Lat. American. Fig. 329.) Common American Crow. The common 

 Crow is a foot and a half long, or rather more, ranging from 17.00 to 21.00 inches; wing^ 

 12.00-14.00; tail 7.00-8.00 ; bill 1.75-2.00, about 0.75 high at base ; tarsus 2.25-2.35, about 

 equal to middle toe and claw, rather exceeding the bill. First primary not longer than 10th. 

 Feathers of throat oval, soft, and blended; no snowy-white under-plumage. The burnishing 

 is chiefly on the wings, tail, and back, the head being nearly dead-black. ? is decidedly 

 smaller than ^, and under-sized cabinet specimens are not seldom labelled " ossifragus." N. 

 Am. at large, chiefly U. S. and easterly, not ordinarily found westward in the interior, where 

 Ravens abound; rare or wanting in the Upper Missouri and Southern Rocky Mt. regions; 

 common, however, in some parts of California and other localities on the Pacific slopes ; resident 

 or only irregularly migratory. In settled parts of the country the Crow tends to colonize, and 

 some of its '' roosts " are of vast extent. Mine is on the Virginia side of the Potomac, near 

 Washington. Crows are always flying west over the city in the afternoon, and when as a 

 boy I used to see the gray of the morning, Crows were flying the other way. Nest in trees, 

 anywhere in the woods, usually high up and concealed with some art, though so bulky as to 

 measure about 24.00 X 12.00 outside, with a cavity 12.00 X 6.00 ; built of sticks and trash ; 

 eggs 3-8, oftenest 5 or 6, about 1.60 X 1.15, with extremes of 1.85 X 1.20 to 1.45 X 1.00, 

 like the Raven's in color and markings, and equally variable. The Crow lays betimes, the 

 season iov eggs being from February in tlie Southern states, March and Ajiril in the Middle, 

 and early May in the Northern ; incubation occupies about 17 days; the young remain in tlie 

 nest for about three weeks ; there is only one brood annually. In its relations to man the 

 Crow is rather beneficial than injurious on the whole, the damage it unquestionably does 

 under some circumstances being more than offset by its habitual destruction of noxious in- 

 sects; it should therefore be protected not persecuted. But such is its sagacity that it man- 

 ages to hold its own, unterrified by scarecrows, undismayed by man's many devices for its 

 destruction, and quite regardless of legi.slatures which declare it to be an outlaw. (C fru- 

 givorus Bartram, 1791, of 2d-4th eds. of the Key. C- americanus Aud. 1834; Key, orig. 

 ed. 1872, p. 162; A. 0. U. List, No. 488. C a. hesiieris Ridgw. Man. 1887, p. 362, based 

 on Pacific slope specimens, is ignored by the A. 0. U.) 



C. a. pas'cuus. (Lat. pascmts, relating to meadows ; pascuum, a pasture. Name intended 

 to connote the same as fioridanus, with allusion to the Spanish name of the country, said to 

 have been called Pascua Florida or Pascua de Flores by Ponce de Leon, because he discovered 

 it on Paschal or Easter day of 1512. Cf. Lat. paseualis, paschalin, paschal, relating to pa scha, 

 feast of the Passover.) Florida Crow. Represents the greater relative size of bill and feet 

 shown by many resident birds of Florida and corresponding latitudes. Average size somewhat 

 less, not over 20.00; wing 11.50-12.50; tail under 8.00; bill 2.00 or rather more along cul- 

 men, its depth at base 0.75-0.85; tarsus 2.45. Eggs 3-5, indistinguishable from those of the- 



