CORVUS OSSIFRAGUS : FISH CROW. 317 



FISH CROW. 

 CORVUS OSSIFRAGUS Wils. 



Chars. Like the last. Length, 16.00 or less; wing, 10.00-11.00; 

 tail, 6.00-7.00 ; tarsus, about equal to middle toe without claw ; 

 a bare space on cheek. 



Though much has been said against the New Eng- 

 land record of the Fish Crow, enough of it is authen- 

 tic to give the bird unquestionable right to the place 

 it held for nearly forty years before it was ejected 

 by Dr. Brewer on the strength of his own opinion. 

 (See Pr. Bost. Soc., xvii, 1875, P- 45 2 ; Bull. Nutt. 

 Club, i, 1876, p. 91 ; ii, 1877, P- 46-) In 1868, Dr. 

 Coues spoke of the bird in terms the pertinence of 

 which has since been established, calling it "a rare 

 summer visitor, chiefly along the more southern por- 

 tions of the coast" (Pr. Essex Inst., p. 286). In 1878, 

 Dr. Brewer reiterated his previous implied denials of 

 its occurrence in New England, with ttye proviso, how- 

 ever, that the demonstration of the fact was only a 

 question of time (Pr. Bost. Soc., xix, 1878, p. 306). 

 Satisfactory evidence, however, was then, as it had 

 long been, in our possession. Dr. Linsley had long 

 before given the bird as occurring at Stratford, Conn. 

 (Am. Jour. Sci., xliv, 1843, p. 260) ; Mr. Merriam had 

 endorsed this record (Tr. Conn. Acad., iv, 1877, pp. 

 49, 145) ; Mr. Brewster had expressed his confidence 

 that he had seen a Fish Crow at Cambridge, March 16, 

 1875 (Bull. Nutt. Club, i, 1876, p. 19) ; and Mr. Pur- 

 die had given a summary of the New England record 

 (Bull. Nutt. Club, ii, 1877, p. 13). Mr. Allen, in his 



