THE COMMON CROW. 357 



number: they almost exactly resemble those of the Com- 

 mon Crow; but are considerably larger, averaging about 

 two inches in length by 1.55 inch in breadth. 



A specimen in my collection, of undoubted authenticity, 

 collected on Grand Meiian, is much smaller than the usual 

 size, being but 1.70 by 1.24 inch in dimensions. 



The habits of this bird have been described so many 

 times, and are so familiar to all, that I will not give them 

 an extended notice here. 



CORVUS AMERICANUS. Auduban. 

 y The Common Crow. 



Corcus corone, Wilson. Am. Orn., IV. (1811) 79. Nutt. Man., I. (1832) 209. 

 Contu Americanus, Audubon. Orn. Biog., II. (1834) 317; V. 477. Nutt. Man., 

 I. (2d ed., 1840) 221. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Fourth quill longest, second shorter than sixth, first shorter than ninth; glossy 

 black with violet reflections, even on the belly ; tarsus longer than the middle toe 

 and claw. 



The bill is considerably narrower than high or much compressed; it is gently 

 curved from the very base, rather more rapidly towards the tip; the incumbent 

 feathers of the nostril reach half the distance from the base of the bill to the end of 

 the lower jaw, and not quite half-way to that of the upper. 



The tarsus has eight scutellse anteriorly, and is rather longer than the middle toe 

 and claw; the lateral toes are very nearly equal; the inner claw the larger, and 

 reaching to the base of the middle claw. 



The webs of the throat feathers are a little loose, but lie quite smoothly, without 

 the pointed lanceolate character seen in the ravens. 



Length, nineteen to twenty inches ; wing, thirteen to thirteen and fifty one-hun- 

 dredths; tail, about eight inches. 



This well-known bird is abundant through New England 

 in the summer, and in mild winters is a resident through 

 the year. The species as Mr. Allen justly remarks, in 

 his Catalogue of the Birds of Springfield, Mass. " seems 

 to have diminished very materially in numbers in the last 

 gix or eight years ; hundreds, and probably thousands, hav- 

 ing been killed in the State by the use of strychnine almost 

 every year." 



About the first week in May, the birds separate into pairs, 

 and soon commence building. The nest is usually built in a 



