490 



5 r STEM A TIC S YNOPSIS. — PA SSER ES — OS CINE S. 



ally 4-5, iudistiuejuishable from those of the common Crow, only averaging a trifle smaller, 

 laid in April, May, and June. 



C. ossi'fragus. (Lat. ossifragus, as adj. ossifragous, bone-breaking ; as noun also ossifraga, 

 the ossifrage, osprey, or sea-eagle, i. e., the Fish Hawk now called Pandion haUaetus ; os, 

 gen. ossis, a bone; fmngere, to break.) Southeastern Fish Crow. Small. Length 

 14.00-16.00; wing 10.00-11.00; tail 6.00-7.00 ; bill 1.50; tarsus 1.60; middle toe and claw 

 1.75. First primary not longer than 10th; a bare space about gape I South Atlantic and 

 Gulf States, Louisiana to southern New England, rare or casual beyond Long Island, in 

 summer only in the lower Hudson and Connecticut valleys, resident from New Jersey south- 

 ward. Common ; maritime, piscivorous. A different bird from any of the foregoing, as it 

 presents some tangible distinctions, although constantly associated with C americanus. It is 

 decidedly smaller, with maxima not reaching minima of the common species ; the voice is 

 different, and the habits are not the same. Nest and eggs not to be distinguished with cer- 

 tainty from those of the common Crow, though averaging smaller. Eggs usually 4 or 5, aver- 

 aging 1.45 X 1-05, laid from Feb. through May. (C. maritimus Bartram, 1791, and of CoiiES, 

 Key, 2d-4th eds. 1884-90, p. 417. C ossifragus WiLS. 1812,' of orig. ed. of the Key, 1872, 

 p. i63. and of the A. 0. U. Lists, No. 490.) 



PICICOR'VUS. (Compounded of piciis, a woodpecker, or pica, a magpie, and corvus, a crow. 

 Fig. 330.) American Nutcrackers. General characters of the European iV^/c/fra^a. BiU 

 slenderer, more acute, with more regularly curved culmen and commissure, and straight ascending 



gonys ; as a whole some- 

 what decurved. Nos- 

 trils circular, concealed 

 by a full tuft of plu- 

 mules. Wings long and 

 pointed, folding to end of 

 tail; 5th quill longest; 

 4th, 3d, 6th little less; 

 2d much shorter, 1st not 

 half as long as 5th. Tail 

 little over half as long 

 as wing, little rounded. 

 Fig. 330. —Head of Picicon'tis, nat. size. (Ad. nat. del. E. C.) Tarsus shorter than mid- 



dle toe and claw ; the envelop divided into small plates on sides behind toward the bottom. 

 Claws very large, strong, acute, and much curved, especially that of the hind toe ; the lateral 

 reaching beyond base of the middle claw. Coloration peculiar; gray, with black-and-white 

 wings and tail. Habits much the same as those of N. caryocatactes ; alpine and sub-boreal, pini- 

 coline, and pinivorous. One species, confined to W. Am., differing from Nucifraga chiefly in the 

 pattern of coloration. Picicorvus Bp. 1850, of all previous eds. of the Key, and of the A. 0. U. 

 List, 1st ed. 1886, p. 246; later reduced to a subgenus of Nucifraga — a needless procedure. 

 P. columbia'nus. (Of the Columbia River. Fig. 331.) Clark's Crow. Clark's Nut- 

 cracker. Adult ^ 9 '■ Gray, often bleaching on head ; wings glossy black, most of the sec- 

 ondaries broadly tipped with white : tail white, including under coverts ; central feathers and 

 usually part of the next pair, together with upper coverts, black. Bill and foet black. Iris 

 brown. Length about 12 50; extent 22.00: wing 7.00-8.00; tail 4.00-5.00; tarsus 1.35; 

 bill averaging 1.67; feet from 1.25-1.75. Sexes alike in color, but 9 smaller than ^. Young 

 similar, but browner a.sh. There is great difference in the .shade in adults, the plumage when 

 fresh being more glaucous ash, wearing browner, and also bleaching in patches, especially on 

 head. Coniferous belt of the West, N. to northern Alaska, within the Arctic circle, S. to Mex- 

 ico and Lower California, W. to the Coast Ranges, E. regularly to the eastern si)urs and foot- 



