BIRDS OF NEW YORK 219 



as Troy, it is extremely rare to find it far from a tidal river and it is usually 

 confined to the immediate vicinity of the seashore. 



Haunts and habits. When there is no Common crow nearby with 

 which to compare the size of the Fish crow, it is very difficult to identify 

 him by size alone, but his notes are very characteristic, consisting of an 

 expressionless croak, resembling, as before said, the note of a young Crow, 

 but a hoarser " car'' sometimes a clear " cah " or a " cahk " often repeated. 



The breeding site of the Fish crow is usually in cedars, about 25 feet 

 from the ground, near the waterside. The nesting materials are sticks, 

 bark and grasses, lined with inner strips of grapevine bark and fine 

 grasses, the structure resembling very closely the nest of the Common 

 crow. The eggs are from 4 to 6 in number, in color not distinguishable 

 from those of its larger relative, but smaller, averaging 1 .46 by 1 .06 inches. 



Its food consists mostly of fishes, crabs and other small crustaceans 

 and offal washed up on the shore. Occasionally, like its larger relative, 

 it feeds on the young and eggs of smaller birds. It is less sociable in 

 habits than the Common crow, but is often seen in company with that 

 species. It is less suspicious, however, than the Common crow and more 

 easily approached. 



Fam.ly 8TURNIDAE 



Starlings 



Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus 



Starling 



Plate 74 



Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus. Syst. Nat. 1758. Ed. 10. 1:167 



A. O. U. Check List. Ed. 3. 1910. p. 230. No. 493 

 sturnus, Lat., starling; vulgaris, Lat., common 



Description. Shaped somewhat like the Meadowlark but with a 

 relatively longer bill and shorter tail; general color black glossed with 

 iridescent purple and greenish, spotted with buff or brownish white; bill 

 yellow; winter plumage with the brownish or buffy of the upper and under 

 parts mostly obscuring the greenish and purple. Sexes almost alike. 

 Female slightly more spotted below; young plain grayish-brown. 



Length 8.5 inches; wing 5.1; tail 2.6; bill 1; tarsus 1.2. 



Distribution. The Starling is a native of western and central Europe 

 wintering mostly in southern Europe and northern Africa, now introduced 



