162 Birds of Pennsylvania. 



ofi' and eat it with security. In this manner I have seen it steal, one 

 after another, all the eg;gs of a Wild 'DM^cey's nest. You will percieve, 

 reader, that I endeavor to speak of uie Crow with all due impartial- 

 ity, not wishing by any means to conceal its faults, nor withholding 

 my testimony to its merits, which are such as I can well assure the 

 farmer, that were it not for its race, thousands of corn-stalks would 

 every year fall prostrate in consequence of being cut over close to the 

 ground by the destructive grubs which are called cut-worms." 



490. Corvus ossifragus Wilson. 



Fish Crow. 



Description. 



Smaller than C. americanus. Glossy black with green and violet reflections ; the 

 gloss of head, neck and belly gi-eenish ; a small space at base of lower mandible, on 

 each side bare?; bill and feet black; iris brown. Length, 14 to 16 inches ; extent, 

 about 32 inches. 



Hah. — Atlantic coast, from Long Island to Florida. 



The Fish Crow is a common and abundant resident, during all sea 

 sons, about the maritime districts of most and probably all of the 

 Southern States. According to Audubon they migrate northward in 

 April and ascend the Delaware river in Pennsylvania, nearly to its 

 source, but return to the south at the approach of cold weather. Mr. 

 J. Hoopes Matlack, informs me that some few years ago, he found a 

 nest and eggs of this bird along the Brandywine creek, some two or 

 three miles from the borough of West Chester. Mr. Gentry writing 

 in 1877, says he has observed it during the past five or six years nest- 

 ing along the water courses in the neighborhood of Philadelphia. This 

 bird, like the preceding species, builds in trees. The nests and eggs of 

 the Fish Crow, although smaller, cannot with absolute certainty be 

 distinguished from those of the American Crow. The voice of the 

 Fish Crow, according to Wilson, is very different from that of the 

 Common Crow, being more hoarse and gutteral, uttered as if some- 

 thing had lodged in the throat. The common note of this bird, 

 Audubon says, resembles the syllables ha^ ha hae^ frequently re- 

 peated. In referring to the food of this species, Audubon writes sub- 

 stantially as follows : While searching for food, these birds hover at 

 a moderate height over the water ; but when they rise in the air, to 

 amuse themselves, they often reach a great elevation. Like the Com- 

 mon Crow, the Fish Crow robs other birds of their eggs and young. I 

 have observed this particularly on the Florida Keys, where they 

 plundered the nests of Cormorants and White Ibises. They also prey 

 upon the fiddler-crab, which they pursue and dig out of the muddy 

 burrows into which they retire at the approach of danger. Small fry 

 are easily secured with their claws as they fly close over the water's 



