CROW. 179 



from place to place, diving on his back while high in air, and 

 harassing him for a great distance. A single pair of these noble- 

 spirited birds, whose nest was built 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 half long, and three feet 

 two inches in extent; the general colour 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 scallopped 

 at the ends, and minutely pointed, by the prolongation of the 

 shaft; iris dark hazel. 



The above description agrees so nearly with the European 

 species as to satisfy me that they are the same; though the voice 

 of ours is said to be less harsh, not unlike the barking of a small 

 spaniel; the pointedness of the ends of the tail feathers, men- 

 tioned by European naturalists, and occasioned by the extension 

 of the shafts, is rarely observed in the present species, though 

 always very observable in the secondaries. 



The female differs from the male in being more dull colour- 

 ed, and rather deficient in the glossy and purplish tints and re- 

 flections. The difference, however, is not great. 



Besides grain, insects and carrion, they feed on frogs, tad- 

 poles, small fish, lizards and shell-fish; with the latter they fre- 

 quently mount to a great height, dropping them on the rocks 

 below, and descending after them to pick up the contents. The 

 same habit is observable in the Gull, the Raven, and Sea-side 

 Crow. Many other aquatic insects, as well as marine plants, 

 furnish them with food; which accounts for their being so gen- 

 erally found, and so numerous, on the sea-shore, and along the 

 banks of our large rivers. 



