270 Stone, Winter Cro-M Life in Delaxvare Valley. [ tul"* 



An inspection of the barns and corncribs where the crows were 

 confined until sold, showed that about one in five was of the 

 smaller species. This is of course not an index of the relative 

 proportion of the two species, but simply of those caught, and 

 doubtless indicates that the Fish Crow was more susceptible to the 

 allurements of the trapper than his larger brother. The abundance 

 of the Fish Crow in winter on the meadows to the north of the city- 

 is interesting since, so far as Mr. Fowler has been able to ascer- 

 tain, the species does not nest so far up the Delaware River. On 

 the Tinicum meadows, below the city, it has frequently been 

 reported as a summer resident, but careless observers and collec- 

 tors have more than once confused the two species, and so far as 

 my personal experience goes such nests as I have examined in 

 this locality were unquestionably the property of C. americamis, 

 though I am still of the opinion that the Fish Crow breeds their 

 also, and that a colony of nests in the Lazaretto woods belongs to 

 the latter species. Farther down the river the Fish Crow undoubt- 

 edly nests regularly as well as along the New Jersey coast, while 

 of late years several pairs have occupied tall trees in the small 

 parks in the heart of Philadelphia. The pair which have been 

 domiciled in Logan Square, directly opposite the Academy of 

 Natural Sciences, have been frequently observed and seem to be 

 quite oblivious to their surroundings, feeding their young on the 

 lower branches of the trees to the astonishment of the House 

 Sparrows, and even making depredations upon the disarticulated 

 skeletons which our taxidermist had put out on the roof to bleach. 



Our observations would seem to indicate, that the Fish. Crow is 

 a resident species along the river but that it pushes farther north 

 along the valley in severe winter than its normal breeding range 

 extends. That it mingles much more with the Common Crow 

 than some of the older writers would have us believe seems certain, 

 although this may apply only to the district under consideration 

 and similar spots where the ranges of the two overlap. 



As the Fish Crow is not a very common species in collections, 

 Mr. Fowler secured at my request a series of twenty-five specimens, 

 all of which are now in the Academy's or in my own collection. 

 The difference in color as compared with the Common Crow and 

 the increased gloss of the plumage is constant through the whole 



