216 BIRDS OF NORTH CAROLINA 



201. Corvus ossifragus (Wils.). FISH CROW. 



Description. Entire plumage black, with steel-blue or deep purplish reflections, generally 

 more greenish on the underparts. L., 16.00; W., 11.00; T., 6.40; B., 1.50. 



Remarks. The Fish Crow may be distinguished from the common crow (1) by its 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. (Chap., Birds of E. N. A.) 



Range in United States. Eastern and southern coasts from New York to Louisiana. 



Mange in North Carolina. Coast region only, where it is resident. 



The Fish Crow, a somewhat smaller bird than the foregoing species, is a common 

 resident along our coastal region, nesting in trees in suitable situations. The nests 

 and eggs are similar to those of the common crow, but the latter are smaller, aver- 

 aging only 1.50 x 1.10. 



The feeding habits of Fish Crows are similar to those of its larger relative, but, on 

 account of a different habitat, they also feast upon fish, crabs, and other creatures 

 that are washed ashore by the waves. They also plunder the heron and cormorant 

 rookeries, eating the eggs when the parents are absent from their nests. Pearson 

 has found their nests late in April and May in Dare, Hyde, and Carteret counties. 

 He observed that if you found one Fish Crow's nest in a grove it was frequently 

 the case that a search would reveal perhaps half a dozen others within a short 

 distance. 



The Starling, Sturnus vulgaris, so far as we are aware, has not yet been recorded from North 

 Carolina. This European species was first introduced into this country in 1890, when Eugene 

 Schieffelin liberated sixty in Central Park, New York City. Since that time it has increased 

 rapidly in numbers and its range has extended in a southerly direction as far as Newport News, 

 Va. We may, therefore, expect it to appear in North Carolina at any time. The Starling is 

 about eight and one-half inches in length. In general appearance it is a short, metallic-purplish, 

 black bird, and is usually heavily covered with creamy white spots. To the minds of many 

 ornithologists this bird bids fair to become as great a nuisance in the United States as the 

 English Sparrow. The Starling belongs to the family Sturnidce, of which it is the only repre- 

 sentative in the United States. 



44. FAMILY ICTERID/E. BLACKBIRDS, ORIOLES, ETC. 



This is a family of medium-sized birds, intermediate in some respects between 

 the Crows on the one hand and the Finches on the other, but perhaps in most 

 respects nearer the latter. All are distinctively American birds. 



KEY TO GENERA 



1. Outlines of bill nearly or quite straight, the tip not evidently decurved, the commissure 

 not sinuate. See 2. 



1. Outlines of bill distinctly curved, the tip decurved, the commissure evidently sinuated. Crow 



Blackbirds. See 6. 

 2 Bill stout, conical, its depth at base at least one-third its length. See 3. 



2. Bill slender, its depth at base scarcely one-third its length. See 5. 



3. Tail-feathers acute, middle toe with claw longer than tarsus. Bill stout, shorter than the 



head. Dolichonyx. 



3. Tail-feathers not acute, middle toe with claw not longer than tarsus. See 4. 



4. Bill stout, much shorter than head. Molothrus. 



4. Bill more slender, about as long as head. Agelaius. 



5. Tail not more than two-thirds length of wing, the feathers acute. Breast yellow, with a black 



crescent. Sturnella. 



