128 CROWS AND JAYS, 
Crows, JAYs, ETC. (FAMILY CorRVIDz.) 
There are systematists who think that the members 
of this family should hold the place usually assigned the 
Thrushes, at the head of the class Aves. Leaving out of 
the case anatomical details whose value is disputed, we 
might object to a family of songless birds being given first 
rank in a group whose leading character is power of 
song. But while Crows and Jays may, from a musical 
standpoint, be considered songless, no one can deny their 
great vocal powers. Song, after all, does not imply high 
rank in bird-life, and some of the sweetest singers (among 
others, some Snipe, and the Tinamous and Wood Quail 
of South America) are not members of the suborder of 
Song Birds. . 
If, however, the relative intelligence of the two fam- 
ilies be taken into account, there can be no doubt that 
Corvide fully deserve to be considered the most highly 
developed of birds. How many tales are told of the 
human actions of the Raven, Rook, Jackdaw, Magpie, 
Jay, and Crow! 
Of the two hundred members of this family, six in- 
habit eastern North America, by far the most common 
being the Crow. No one of our birds 
is better known, and still, how ignorant 
we are of his ways! I am not sure 
that he does not know more about ours. We have not 
even recorded his notes, for, in spite of the current opin- 
ion that the Crow’s calls are restricted to caw, he has an 
extended vocabulary. I am not aware that he ever 
ascends to the height of a love song, but that he can 
converse fluently no one who has listened to him will 
question. Of the variants of caw, each with its own 
significance, there seems no end; but if you would be 
American Crow, 
Corvus americanus. 
