BIKDS. 69 



near, have been known to protect a whole field of corn from the 

 depredations of the crows, not permitting one to approach it. 



The crow is eighteen inches and a naff long, and three feet two 

 inches in extent ; the general color is a shining glossy blue black, 

 with purplish reflections ; the throat and lower parts are less 

 glossy ; the bill and legs, a shining black, the former two inches 

 and a quarter long, very strong, and covered at the base with 

 thick tufts of recumbent feathers ; the wings, when shut, reach 

 within an inch and a quarter of the tip of the tail, which is 

 rounded ; fourth primary, the longest ; secondaries scolloped at the 

 ends, and minutely pointed, by the prolongation of the shaft; iris, 

 dark hazel. 



The female differs from the male in being more dull colored, and 

 rather deficient in the glossy and purplish tints and reflections. 

 The difference, however, is not great. 



Besides grain, insects, and carrion, they feed on frogs, tadpoles, 

 small fish, lizards, and shell fish ; with the latter they frequently 

 mount to a great height, dropping them on the rocks below, and 

 descending after them to pick up the contents. Many other aquatic 

 insects, as well as marine plants, furnish them with food ; which 

 accounts for their being so generally found, and so numerous, on 

 the sea shore, and along the banks of our large rivers. 



THE RAVEN. The raven is a general inhabitant of the United 

 States, but is more common in the interior. It is a remarkable 

 fact, that where they so abound, the common crow seldom makes 

 its appearance ; being intimidated, it is conjectured, by the superior 

 size and strength of the former, or by an antipathy which the two 

 species manifest towards each other. 



The food of this species is dead animal matter of all kinds, not 

 excepting the most putrid carrion, which it devours in common 

 with the vultures ; worms, grubs, reptiles, and shell fish, the last ot 

 which, in the mariner of the crow, it drops from a considerable 

 height in the air, on the rocks, in order to break the shells ; it is 

 fond of bird's eggs, and is often observed sneaking around the 

 farm-house in search of the eggs of the domestic poultry, which it 

 sucks with eagerness ; it is likewise charged with destroying young 

 ducks and chickens, and lambs which have been yeaned in a sickly 

 state. 



The raven measures, from the tip of the bill to the end of the 

 tail, twenty-six inches, and is four feet in extent ; the bill is large 

 and strong, of a shining black, notched r.ear the tip, and three in- 



