THE NORTHWEST CROW. 13 



Common Crow, but averaging smaller. A ty])ical set averages 1.56 .x 1.08 

 (39.6 -x 27.4 1. Season: .\pril 15-June 1 ; one brood. 



General Range. — .American coasts of the North Pacitic Ocean and its 

 estuaries from (Jlympia and the mouth of the Columbia River north at least to 

 the .Alaskan ])eninsula. 



Range in Washington. — Shores and islands of Puget Sound, llie Straits 

 of Juan de Fuca, and the \\'est Coast (at least as far south as Aloclips, presum- 

 ably to Cape Disappointment). Strictly resident. 



Authorities. — [Lewis and Clark, Hist. E.x. (1814), ed. Diddle: Coues, Vol. 

 n. ]). iSv] Con'iis caurinus Baird. Baird, Rep. Pae. R. R. Snrv. IX. Tunc 20, 

 1858, 569, 5;o. T. C&S. L'. Rh. Kb. Ra. Kk. B. E. 



Specimens. — U. of W. Prov. E. B. 



AFTER lengthy discussion it is pretty well settled that the Crow nf the 

 northwestern sea-coasts is merely a dwarfed race of the Con'iis bracli\yIi\nchos 

 group; and that it shades perfectly into the prevailing western type, C. b. hcs- 

 peris, wherever that species occvipies adjacent regions. This area of inter- 

 gradation lies chiefly south and west of Puget Sound, in Washington ; for the 

 Crow is ever fond of the half-open country, and does not take kindly t<i the 

 unmitigated forest depths, save where, as in the case of the Fish Crow, lie may 

 find relief upon the broad expanses of shore and tide-flats. The case is cjuite 

 analogous to that of native man. The larger, more robust types were found in 

 the eastern interior, while those tribes which were confined exclusivelv to 

 residence upon the sea-shore tended toi become dwarfed and stunted ; and the 

 region of intergradation lay not chiefly along the western slc>i)es of the 

 Cascades with their crushing weight nf tall timber, Init in the ])rairie regions 

 bordering Puget Sound upon the south. 



It is impossible, therefore, to pronounce with certaintv upon the sub- 

 specific identity of Crows seen near shore in Alason, Thurston, Pierce, or even 

 King County ; but in Clallam. Jefferson, San Juan, and the other counties of 

 the Northwest, one has no difficulty in recognizing the dwarf race. Not onlv 

 are tiiese Crows much smaller in point of size, but the voice is weaker, flatter, 

 and more hoarse, as tho afifected by an ever-present fog. So marked is this 

 vocal change, that one may note the difference Ijetween birds seen along shore 

 in Pierce County and those which frequent the uplands. However, — and this 

 caution must be noted — the upland birds do visit the shore on occasion ; and 

 the regular shore dwellers are by no means cunfincd thereto, as are the more 

 typical birds found further north. 



The early observers were feeling for these differences, and if Nature did 

 not afford sufficient ground for easy discrimination, imagination could supplv 

 the details. The following paragraph from the nnich quoted work-"" of John 

 Keast Lord is interesting l^ecause deliciously inUrue. 



a. "The NatumliM in Vancouver Island and British Colnnihia," by Inhn Kcast Lord. Two Vols 

 London. Published by Richard Bcntlcy, 1866. Vol. IT., p. -o. 



