283 



hoarse and guttural, uttered as if something had 

 lodged in the throat. Audubon describes the common 

 note of this bird with the syllables ha, ha, hae, fre- 

 quently repeated. 



WILL TAKE DUCKLINGS. 



The Fish Crow will sometimes pick up young ducks 

 of both wild and domesticated kinds, and they also 

 pillage the nests of Mudhens and other aquatic birds. 

 They visit shallow waters and feed on small-sized fish 

 which they capture. They eat mussels and sometimes 

 when endeavoring to extract the flesh o-f the bivalve 

 from its hard enclosure, the bird is caught by the bill 

 and held a helpless prisoner. 



WHAT AUDUBON SAYS OF ITS FOOD HABITS. 



In referring to the food of this bird Aubudon writes 

 substantially as follows: 



While searching- for food, these birds hover at a moderate 

 height over the water; but when they rise in the air, to amuse 

 themselves, they often reach a great elevation. Like the Com- 

 mon Crow, the Fish Crow robs other birds of their eggs and 

 young. They also prey upon the Fiddler-crab, which they 

 pursue and dig out of the muddy burrows into which they re- 

 tire at the approach of danger. Small fry are easily secured 

 with their claws as they fly close over the water's surface, 

 from which they also pick up, like Gulls, any sort of garbage 

 suited to their appetite; sometimes they will pursue and at- 

 tack the smaller Terns and Gulls to force them to disgorge 

 the small fish that they have captured. Fish Crows are able 

 to capture live fish with considerable dexterity, but cannot 

 feed on the wing. During the winter and spring the Fish 

 Crows are very fond of feeding on many kinds of berries. As 

 spring advances, and the early fruits ripen. Fish Crows become 

 fond of the mulberry, and select the choicest of the ripe figs, 

 more especially when they are feeding their young. A dozen 

 are often seen at a time, searching for the tree which has the 

 best figs, and so troublesome do they become in the imme- 

 diate vicinity of Charleston, that it is found necessary to sta- 

 tion a man near a fig tree with a gun. They also eat pears, 

 as well as various kinds of huckleberries. 



