282 



FI«H CKOW. 



Corvus ossifragus. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Smaller than the Common Crow. Glossy black with green 

 and violet reflections; the gloss of head, neck and belly green; 

 bill and feet black; iris brown. Length fourteen to sixteen 

 inches; length of extended wings about thirty-two inches. 



ECabitat. — Atlantic coast, from Long Island to Florida. Along 

 Delaware and Susquehanna rivers. 



The Fish Crow is a common and abundant resident 

 during all seasons about the maritime districts of most, 

 or, perhaps, all the southern states. According to 

 Audubon this species migrates northward in April and 

 ascends the Delaware river in Pennsylvania, to nearly 

 its source, but on the approach of cold weather returns 

 to its southern winter quarters. This bird is also 

 found in summer along the Susquehanna river from 

 Lancaster county southward. 



BREEDS NEAR PHILADELPHIA. 



Mr. Thos, Gentry, writing in 1877, says he has ob- 

 served the Fish Cro«w nesting along the water courses 

 in the neighborhood of Philadelphia. The nest and 

 eggs of this bird, although smaller, cannot with ab- 

 solute certainty be distinguished from those of the 

 Common Crow. Small-sized eggs of Crows like skins 

 of under-sized Crows can be labelled "Fish Crow" and 

 few people will recognize the difference. The Fish 

 Crow, like the preceding species, builds in trees. 



ITS VOICE. 



The voice of the Fish Crow, as Wilson says, is very 

 different from that of the Common Crow, being more 



