326 BULLETIN 15 5, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



of the north. It also flies frequently high in the air for long dis- 

 tances, and appears in life to have a longer wing, and a more 

 graceful, sweeping wing stroke. As both species of crow are black, 

 familiarity with them is required to make entirely certain of their 

 identity. 



In the Dominican Republic the white-necked crow is first definitely 

 noted by Wurttemberg who wrote in 1835 that he had found it in 

 the Cibao range, where according to a later report by Hartlaub he 

 encountered it in noisy flocks of hundreds that came fearlessly about 

 houses. Salle recorded it in heavy forest, and Cory collected five 

 at Rivas in August, 1883. One of these taken August 21, and an- 

 other, shot September 10 at Samana, are in the United States Nation- 

 al Museum collections. Cherrie says that these crows band together 

 in immense flocks that follow the ripening of fruits on which they 

 feed. Christy observed them in the larger forests of the Yuna 

 swamps, and Verrill reports immense flocks at San Lorenzo where 

 the birds flew regularly morning and evening between their roosts 

 in the mountains and their feeding grounds in the swamps, always 

 passing at a great elevation. On the north coast Peters in 1916 

 found this crow very local, observing a few in the cactus forests near 

 Monte Cristi, and in the extensive mangrove swamps at the mouth 

 of the Rio San Juan where he collected one female. Abbott found 

 them very common at the mouth of the Rio Yuna and along the 

 southern shores of Samana Bay, particularly at San Lorenzo. The 

 older inhabitants at Samana and Sanchez said that these crows had 

 been common on the Samana Peninsula years ago but in modern 

 times had become more rare. Abbott however collected two at Port 

 Rincon, August 16, 1919. Others were taken near Sanchez February 

 7, and at San Lorenzo March 18 and 19 of the same year. He shot 

 one on Saona Island September 12, 1919. In 1927 Wetmore found 

 a few at Comendador April 30, and near Constanza May 24. Dan- 

 forth in the same year observed them at Bonao, and in the pine woods 

 above La Vega; Ciferri collected one at San Juan October 1, 1928. 



Though this crow is common in Haiti there are few published 

 records for it. Cory found it at Gantier in 1881, Tippenhauer 

 mentions it, and Beebe saw it in 1927. Wetmore found one in the 

 mangroves at Sources Puantes March 29, noting the white of the 

 hind neck as the bird turned its head. On the summit of La Selle 

 the birds were common and seemed to congregate at night in a roost 

 somewhere to the eastward of the Riviere Chotard. On several 

 occasions a number came flying in early morning from that direction, 

 on one occasion thirty being seen in company. They traveled in 

 direct lines, usually high in air calling loudly, at times pausing to 



