12 TlIK NORTHWEST CRONl. 



arc sacrilkcd daily in a \aiii effort Id satisfy the ("iarf,Miitiiaii apiK'tites of tlicsc 

 yoiiiifj elxiiis. 1 once liad tlie misft>rtunc to pitch caiDp in a prove (if willows 

 which contaiiK'iI a nestful <>f Crows. The old birds never forpave me. hut 

 upbraided me in bitter lanj^iiajjc from early morn till dewy eve. The youngsters 

 also sutTered somewhat, I fear, for as often as a parent bird a])i)roache<l, 

 cawiufj in a curiously nuitlled voice, choked with fiMxI, and detected me outside 

 the tent, it swallowed its burden withoiU compunction, in order that it might 

 the more forcibly berate me. 



It the male ha]>])ened to di.scover my oiU-of-doorncss in the absence of his 

 mate, he wouKl rush at her when she hi>ve in sight, in an officious, blustering 

 way, and shout, "I,i«>k out there! Kce]) away! The Rhino is on the rampage 

 again!" 



1 learned, also, ti) recognize the a])i>earaucc of hawks in the <rt'ting. .\t the 

 first sign the Crow, i)resumably the male. l>cgins to roll out objurgatory giutur- 

 als as he hurries forward to meet the intruder. His lUterances. freely trans- 

 lated, run somewhat as follows: "That blank, blank Swain.son Hawk! 1 

 thought I told him to keq) away from here, .\rrah. there, you slal)-sidcd si>n 

 iif an owl! What are ye doing here? Git out o' this! ( iiiff! IJiff!) Git. 

 I tell ye! ( Biff!) If ever I set eyes on ye again. I'll feed ye to the coyotes. 

 Git. now ! " .\nd ail this without the slightest probability that the ]y»>r hawk 

 would molest the hideous young pickaninnies if he did discover them. For 

 when was a self-rcs|)ecting hawk so lost to decency as to l>e willing to "eat 

 crow" ? 



No. 4. 



NORTHWEST CROW. 



A. ( '. V. \o. 48(). Corvus brachyrhynchos caurinus (Baird). 



Synonyms. — I'isn Ckow. W'kstkk.n 1"isii Ckow. Xcuu'uwkst Fish Crow. 

 F'LGKT Sot .Ml Ckow. Tipkwatku Ckow. 



Description. — Similar to C. h. Iii-sf<i-ris, but decidedly snialkr, with shorter 

 tarsus and relatively smaller feet. Length 15.oo-17.oa: wing ii.rxj ^28ki); tail 

 6.00 ( 158) ; bill 1.80 (4('i) ; tarsus 1.95 (50). 



Recognition Marks. — .\n undersized Crow. \'oice hoarse and flat as com- 

 |)arcd with that of the Western Crow. Haunts beaches and sea-girt rocks. 



Nesting. — Xist: a comiiact mass nf twigs and bark-stri|)s with occasionally a 

 foundation of mud: lined carefully with fine bark-strips and hair: 4.(X) deep and 

 7.00 across inside; [tlaced 10-20 feet high in orchard or evergreen trees, sometimes 

 in loose colony fashion. Eggs: 4 or 5. indistinguishable in color from those of the 



