250 



NUliTIl AMElilCAX lilKDrf. 



ill the tone tlinii in tin/ cliaructer of its crii;3. Its chiof dependence for 

 food beini; on the sea, it is generally found al<»n<^^ tlie beach, devouring' dead 

 fish and otlicr objects thrown up by the waves. At high tide the birds leave 

 the sliore and lusort to dwellinus near the sea, where they devour the oifal 

 and any refuse, veiiotable or animal. As soon as the tide changes they are 

 sure to notice it and to return to their favorite feeding-ground. They are 

 very troublesome to the Indians, stealing their tish exposed for drying, and 

 other articles of food, from some su])erstitiijus awe of them the Indians 

 never molest these birds, but set their children to watch and drive them 

 away. They build in trees near the shore, and the young are Hedged in May. 



In the southern half of California, Dr. Cooper states, these birds are 

 rarcK ' near the sea, preferring inland districts, and only occasionally 

 coming . ...j .shores of the bays to feed. During most of the year they 

 associate in large Hocks, feeding in company, and are gregarious even iu the 

 breeding-season, building in ch)se proximity to one another. Frequently 

 several nests may be found on the same tree. In this respect they are very 

 unlike the eastern species, which never permit another pair near their nest. 



These l>irds were found by Dr. Cooper breeding as far south as San Diego, 

 where they selected for their breeding-places the groves of evergreen oaks 

 •a'owinu in ravines. Their nests were from twelve to forty feet from the 

 ground. In the north they generally build in spruces. He describes their 

 nest's as strongly built of sticks, coarse on the outside, but finer on the inside, 

 where they are mingled with roots, grasses, moss, horse-hair, etc., to form a soft 

 lining. The eggs, four in number, have a ground-color of a dark shade of green, 

 thicklv marked with dark brown and olive. He gives their average measure- 

 ment as l.Go by 1.1 inches. At San Diego they are laid about A})ril 15. 



Where unmolested, these birds have not yet become so shy as in the older 

 districts, but they soon learn to a])prehend the danger of a gun, and to evince 

 the cunnini> eharacteristics of their tribe. Thev have not, as vet, manifested 

 any dis[)osition to disturb the growing crops, and the small de])redations they 

 commit are far more than counterbalanced by their destruction of immense 

 numbers of grul»s, grassho])per'- and other injurious insects. They obtain a 

 large supply of food around the cattle-ranches. 



In noriliern Calii'ornia they feed largely on fisli, and on the Columbia on 

 clams and oysters. 



For reasons not well understood, they avoid particular districts during the 

 breeding-season. Dr. Coo]»er has never noticed one, during this season, on 

 the coast soutli of Santa CLira, has never seen one in the Colorado Valley, 

 nor in the Sierra Xevada. 



At Visalia, where an extt^nsive forest of oaks forms an oasis in the great 

 Tulare plain, he met with large Hocks of these birds, with the same gregari- 

 ous liabits as were observed on the coast. 



During the month of July, bSGG, a large number of these Crows came 

 every evening to roost in an alder-grove near the town of Santa Cruz. They 



