CORVin.R — THE ciiows. 247 



mofisofi, nnd soinotimos witli liair. TIio ])aroiit liirds arc very wiitchfiil and 

 vigilant it' their iie.st is in (lanj;ui', and uiton cxposo tiiuir iivus in tlioir anx- 

 iety I'or their young. Thu male bird is attentive to his mate durini,' inculia- 

 tion, and assists in t'oeding llie young. The young are fed ciiiully on insects, 

 I'l'ogs, miuo, and similar food. 



Till) eggs of tht! Crow vary from l.(J(» to 1 .55 inches in length, and from 

 l.liO to 1. 10 in breadth. In tiieir markings they exhibit surprising varia- 

 tions. Tiiey usually lavve a ground t)f a ligiit sea-grocn, over \viii(!li arc 

 .scattered, more or less thickly, blotches, some of them (luite large, of a ilark- 

 brown, almost bhick, with purplish reflections. These are ehiclly aliout the 

 larger end. Another quite common variety is of a deeper ground of green, 

 very uniformly and thickly s]>rinklcd with fine (h)ttings of a sepia-brown. 

 Ollicrs have a gniund nearly white, .slightly tinged with green, more spar- 

 ingly 8])otted with small l)lotches of light purplish-brown. A nest found 

 near Springfield contained eggs having the ground-color on one side a 

 jiinkish-gray, the rest being greenish-white, all spotted with brown. 

 Another set of eggs from Hudson, Ma.ss,, were of a light bluish-green, 

 entirely unspotted, resembling large iJoliin's eggs; and Dr. Wood nuMitions 

 another four, the ground of which was llesh-color, and the spots red. 



Corvus americanus, var. floridanus, Baird. 



FLOBIDA CROW. 



Comm (imericaniifi, var. floridanw, lUuiD, Birds N. Am. 5(58, pi. Ixvii, f. 1, 6'. amcrkn- 

 nus, Allkn, n. E. Fla. 297. 



Sp. CnAii. About, tlie size of C. amerieanun, but bill and foet Inrffor. Tiiil loss rounded. 

 Third, foiu'th, and (itl)i quills nearly equal; third riitiier longer than ril'lii. Color lo.sa 

 violet, above. Lenjrth, lO.SO; wiiifr, 12.00; tail, 7.70; tarsus, 2.G0. 



IIab. Soulliorn peninsula of Florida. 



This resident Crow of Horida differs in some marked features from that 

 of the more northern localities in several characters. Although jjcrhaps 

 rather smaller, the l)ill and feet, especially the latter, are very consideralily 

 liuger. Tlie nasal feathers extend over the basal two fifths of the bill, 

 instead of the half The ])roportions of the bill are about the same ; in 

 the Florida bird it is rather the longer. The greatest difference is in the 

 feet. The tarsal joint of the tibia is bare, the feathers scarcely coming 

 below it, even anteriorly, instead of projecting some distance. The tarsus 

 is almost a quarter of an inch longer, covered anteriorly by nine scutelhc, 

 instead of eight. The outer lateral toe is shorter, not reaching the base 

 of the middle chuv. The middle too and claw are considerably shorter than 

 the tarsus ; the middle claw is sliorter than in the northern bird. 



The wing-formula differs somewhat ; the third, fourth, and fifth ipiills are 

 nearly eijual, the tliird even longer than the fifth, instead of shorter. The 



