354 CROWS AND JAYS 



too much confidence in his undoubted ability to escape his human 

 persecutors. He laughs at their attempts to entrap him; his insolent 

 assurance is admirable. For several centuries man has been his sworn 

 enemy, nevertheless he appears to have held his own, accepting and 

 adjusting himself to every new condition. 



Afraid of no one, he migrates boldly by day, and in March and 

 October we may see him with his comrades high in the air, returning 

 to or leaving their summer homes. In winter the Crows are exceedingly 

 abundant along our seacoasts, where they congregate to feed on mollusks, 

 fish, and other sea food. At this season they roost in colonies. It has 

 been estimated that some roosts contain upward of three hundred 

 thousand birds. Early in the morning, with regularly executed maneu- 

 vers, they start on the day's foraging, flying low, on the lookout for 

 food. Late in the afternoon they return at a much greater height 

 "as the Crow flies" and, alighting at some point near the roost, wait 

 the coming of the last stragglers. Then, at a given signal, they all rise 

 and retire for the night. No one one who has listened to Crows will 

 doubt that they have a language. But who can translate it? 



1886. RHOADS, S. N., Am. Nat., 691-700; 777-786 (roosts). 1895. 

 BARROWS and SCHWARZ, Bull. 6, Biol. Surv. 1-98 (food). 1895. BURNS, 

 F. L., Wilson Bull. No. 5, 1-41 (monograph). 1897. BUTLER, A. W., 

 Proc. Ind. Acad. Sci., 175-178 (roosts). 



488a. C. b. pascuus Coucs. FLORIDA CROW. Similar to the preced- 

 ing, but wings and tail somewhat shorter, and bill and feet slightly larger, 

 L., 20-00; W., H'50-12-30 T., 7'00-7'70; B., 2'00-2'20; depth of B. at 

 base, -7S--85; Tar., 2'40-2'50 (Ridgw.). 



Range. Peninsula of Florida. 



Nesting date, San Mateo, Fla., Mch. 3. 



490. Corvus ossifragus Wih. FISH CROW. Ads. Entire plumage 

 black, with steel-blue or deep purplish reflections, generally morn gnvnish 

 on the underparts. L., IG'OO; W., ll'OO; T., 6'40; B., 1'50. 



Remarks. The Fish Crow may be distinguished from the common Crow 

 (1) by its much smaller size. (2) By the uniform and somewhat richer color 

 of the back. In brachyrhynchos the feathers of the back have dull tips; when 

 the freshly-plumaged bird is held between the observer and the light these 

 tips give the back a ringed or slightly scaled appearance. In ossifragus these 

 tips are wanting, and the back is uniformly colored. (3) By the brighter 

 color of the underparts. In brachyrhynchos the underparts are generally 

 much duller than the upperparts; in ossifragus they are nearly as bright. 



Range. Carolinian and Austroriparian faunas of Atlantic and Gulf 

 coasts from lower Hudson River valley and Conn, to La. and Fla.; casual 

 in Mass. ; migratory only at extreme n. limit of range. 



Washington, rather common P. R. Cambridge, A. V., one record, Mch. 



Nest, of sticks, lined with strips of grapevine bark, moss, grasses, etc., 

 generally in pines or cedars, 20-50 feet up. Eggs, 4-6, similar in color to 

 those of the preceding species, 1*52 x 1'06. Date, Lake Kissimmee, Fla., 

 Apl. 30; D. C., May 5; Seven Mile Beach, N. J., May 15. 



The Fish Crow can be distinguished from the common Crow in 

 life only by its call. Its voice is cracked and reedy, and its notes resem- 

 ble those of a young common Crow. Instead of the loud, clear, open 

 caw of adults of that species, it utters a hoarser car, as if it talked through 



