THE CARRION-CROW. 181 



have been snowed on till they have become hoarse, their 

 croak is so " inward " and laborious ; but they have also a 

 sharper sort of crowing note a kind of note that seems to 

 belong, in some degree, to most birds that fight for possession 

 of their females. The eggs are about five, which is indeed 

 the usual number with all the crow tribe. As the season 

 becomes cold, they migrate, or come down to the low country 

 to pass the winter; and if that is more than usually severe, 

 the grey upon them changes almost to white. When the 

 snow falls heavy, they resort to the margin of the sea, and 

 the very doors of the cottages; but occasionally take an 

 excursion to see if any creature has perished, or is perishing, 

 in the snow; and if so, and the body be considerable, they 

 soon come in a flock.* 



THE CARRION-CROW (CoTVUS COTOne). 



The carrion-crow, though smaller in size, (about eighteen 

 inches by thirty-six, and eighteen ounces in 'weight,) and dif- 

 ferent in colour, being wholly black, except some greenish 

 reflections on a few of the feathers, has so nearly the habits 

 of the hooded crow, that doubts have arisen whether they 

 ought not to be considered as varieties of the same species, 

 produced by climate, the hooded one being whitened by the 

 cold. That the hooded crow becomes whiter by exposure to 

 intense cold, is one argument, and the production of a mixed 

 breed between them, is another, and would be decisive, if 

 that breed were fertile in itself, and without any return 

 towards the pure blood of either; but this has not been 

 ascertained, and thus the mixed breed may be merely a 

 mule, the same as that produced between the goldfinch and 

 canary. 



Independently of that question, which, being one of science 

 and system, we are not called upon to discuss, there are, 



* In Norway the hooded crow is very abundant, especially along the 

 sea coast, where it breeds on the cliffs of the rocks. M. 



