(■. IT. Merriaiii — liinfi^ of < 'oinnrtlcKt. 



40 



tlu'se unlucky birds, inist:ikin<;- liis It.iM head lor a stone, »lro|.|,c.i a 

 shell-fisli upon it, and thus kilk'd at owv a philosoplicr and an 

 oyster."* 



117. Corvus OSSifragUS Wilson. Fish Crow. 



This species must be regarded as a rare summer visitor so far 

 north as tliis State, althouijjb it has been seen in INIassaeliusctts by 

 JMr. William Urewster, who writes: " On the morning of ]\Iareli 10th, 

 1875, I saw a bird of this species flying swiltly over our place in 

 Cambridge. It was ])ursued by at least twenty-five or thirty ol'our 

 common species {Corvus Ai/ierieamts), and at each renewal of tlieir 

 attacks gave utterance to its peculiar and unmistakable notes."f 

 Linsley gave it as occurring at " Stratford," C'oiui.J 



118. CyamirUS Cristatns (Linne) Swainson. Blue Jay. 

 An abundant resident ; frequently seen about the city. 



Family, TYRANNID^. 



119. TyrannUS Carolinensis (Linne) Temminck. King-l)ir(l; Beo-bird. 



A common summer resident, arriving early in May (Mr. Dayaii 

 informs me that he saw one as early as April 13, 1877). Departs 

 about the middle of September (Sept. 15) or later. Mr. Sage lias 

 twice seen it at Portland, Conn., as early as May 7th (1864 and 1870) 

 and once on the first (1877), but it generally comes on the 10th. 



The habit, so characteristic of this species, of attacking, and driving 

 away from the vicinity of its nest, Hawks, Crows, and other large 

 birds, early attracted attention, for we find, in Josselyn's Voyages to 

 New England (])ublishcd in 1675, p. 96), the following account of it: 

 "There is a small Ash-color ]>ird that is shaped like a I/awAr with 

 talons and beak that falleth upon Crowes, mounting up into the air 

 after them, and will beat them till they make them cry."§ The 

 description of the bird would fit a Shrike even better than the one in 

 question were it not that it " falletli u2)on Crows" which pastime tiiis 

 bird is not supposed to indulge in; still I have seen a Northern 



* Nuttall's Manual of Ornithology, vol. i, p. 211. 1832. 

 f Bull. Nutt. Ornith. Club, vol. i, No. 1, p. 19. April, lS7r,. 

 X Am. Jour. Sci. and Arts, vol. xliv, No. 2, p. 200. April, 1S4.3. 

 § Reprinted in Collections of tlie Mass. llistorioal Society, vol. iii. M series, j). •_'7.'). 

 1833. 

 Trans. Conn. Acad., Vol. IV. 7 Ji'i.v, 1877. 



