268 NESTS AND EGGS OF 



489. Corvus caurinus BAIRD [282^.] 



North-west Crow. 



Hab. Northwest coast from Oregon to Kadiak, Alaska. 



The Northwestern Fish Crow is a smaller bird than the common 

 Crow of the Eastern States. In its habits it is said to be the exact 

 counterpart of the Fish Crow of the Atlantic coast. Its principal food 

 is marine crabs or fish which it gathers along the banks of rivers and 

 the shores of lakes. L,ike the Raven and Herring Gull, it carries 

 clams high into the air and drops them in order to break the shell. 



Its nest is said to be substantially like that of Corvus ossifragus, 

 being built in evergreens and oaks growing along ravines; and the 

 eggs are indistinguishable. Prof. Ridgway gives their average size as 

 1.56x1.08. 



490. Corvus ossifragus WILS. [283.] 



Fish Crow. 



Hab. Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of the United States from Long Island to Louisiana. 



A common species along the Atlantic coast of the United States 

 from New Jersey to Florida, and on the Gulf coast to Louisiana. It 

 is called the Southeastern Fish Crow. 



Mr. Charles S. Schick states that along the coast of Cape May 

 county, New Jersey, he has found sets of eggs of this species as early 

 as April 13, and on the I5th of the same month observed nests with 

 young ; the dates of laying varying with the temperature of the sea- 

 son. The usual number of eggs deposited is five or six, a set of seven 

 being uncommon. In a section containing two hundred evergreen 

 trees, there were at least sixty nests, ranging in height from twenty to 

 sixty feet above the ground. The composition is nearly the same as 

 in those of the common Crow, except that the lining consists of a few 

 dry leaves or fine bark-fibres. The bird, Mr. Shick says, feeds largely 

 on small crabs, and devours large numbers of the eggs of the Clapper 

 Rail. The eggs of the Fish Crow are so nearly like those of the Crow 

 in color and markings that one description will answer for both ; those 

 of the present species are much smaller. Five specimens measure 

 1.50x1.08, 1.50x1.05, 1.46x1.02, 1.51x1.06, 1.47x1.02. The average 

 size of twelve eggs is i-5ox 1.09. 



491. Picicorvus columbianus (WILS.) [284.] 



Clarke's Nutcracker. 



Hab. Western North America, north to Alaska, south to Arizona, east to and including the Rocky 

 Mountains. 



Clarke's Crow, or Nutcracker, is found in considerable numbers in 

 all suitable localities in the coniferous forests of the higher mountain 

 ranges within the limits of the above habitat. It is the American rep- 

 resentative of the European Nutcracker, Nucifraga caryocatactes. A 



