248 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



tail is short and very nearly eveii, the difference in length of feathers being 

 less than half an inch, instead of an inch. This, however, may in part be 

 •owing to the absence of the middle i)air. 



The colors differ somewhat from those of the common Crow. There is 

 less violet, and the feathers of the back have almost a brassy gloss on their 

 margins, as in Crotojpliaga. 



The specimen upon which these remarks are based, though apparently 

 perfectly mature, is changing some of its feathers, such as the inner prima- 

 ries, the middle tail-feathers, and the greater coverts. The long primaries 

 and ten tail-feathers, however, are of full length. It is possible that the 

 bird is really as large as the northern Crow, although this is hardly probable. 

 It was killed on the mainland of the extreme southern portion of Florida, 

 not far from Fort Dallas. 



ISTo comparison of this bird is required with the Fish Crow, which has the 

 middle toe and claw longer than the tarsus, not shorter, and the proportions 

 much less. 



Habits. The common resident Crow of Florida exhibits so many pecu- 

 liarities differing from the northern species, that Professor Baird, in his 

 Birds of America, deemed it worthy of mention at least as a race, if not a 

 distinct species. We have no account of its habits, and do not know if, 

 in any respects, they differ from those of the common Crow. Dr. J. C. 

 Cooper, in his brief manuscript notes on the birds of Florida, made in the 

 spring of 1859, speaks of the Florida Crow as very common, as being quite 

 maritime in its habits, and as having full-fledged young on the 20th of 

 April. Three eggs of this race, obtained in Florida in the spring of 1871, 

 by Mr. Maynard, differ not more from those of the Crow than do those of the 

 latter occasionally from one another. They measure 1.73 by 1.20 inches ; 

 1.70 by 1.20 ; and 1.54 by 1.25. Their ground-color is a bright bluish-green, 

 and they are all more or less marked, over the entire egg, with blotches of a 

 mingled bronze and brown with violet shadings. The latter tints are more 

 marked in one egg than in the others, and in this the spots are fewer and 

 more at one end, the larger end being nearly free from markings. Their 

 average capacity, as compared with the average of the G. americanus, is as 

 5.1 to 4.2. 



Corvus caurinus, Baird. 



NORTHWESTERN FISH CROW. 



Corvus caurinus, Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 569, pi. xxiv. — Cooper & Suckley, 211, 

 pi. xxiv. — Dall & Bannister, Tr. Chic. Ac. I, 1869, 286 (Alaska). — Finsch, Abli. 

 Nat. Ill, 1872, 41 (Alaska). —Cooper, Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 285. 



Sp. Char. Fourth quill longest ; fifth and third about equal ; second longer than sixth ; 

 first shorter than ninth. Color black, glossed with purple. Tail nearly even. Tarsus longer 

 than middle toe and claw. Length about 16.50 ; wing about 11.00; tail about 7.00. 



Hab. Northwestern coast, from Columbia River to Sitka. 



