iSS^.i Batciikldk.r on C/arA-e's Crow. \'l 



t'ortime to obtain a specimen of Clarke's Crow in first plumage. 

 As no account of the bird in this early stage has, I believe, ever 

 appeared, the following description may be of interest. 



Picicorvus columbianus, fuv., first plumage (5? No. 1340, Coll. C. F. 

 B., McGce's. Chaft'ee Co., Colorado. May 11, 1883). Above dull brownish 

 gra}', much darker than in the adult, darkest on rump and scapulars; up- 

 per tail coverts nearly black, but with a brownish tinge instead of the 

 metallic blue-black of the adult. 



Forehead and sides of head brownish ash, lighter than back, but the 

 pearly tint of the adult is everywhere replaced by brownish. Nasal 

 feathers dark brown. A dusky loral spot. The white supercilliary stripe 

 and eye-ring, and other white about the face present in the adult, are 

 wanting. The chin, however, is ashy white, with a few dai'ker feathers 

 scattered through it. 



Beneath the general coloring is brownish ash, darkest on the breast. 

 Most of the feathers of the throat, breast, and belly are tipped with ashy 

 white, which gives an indistinctly barred effect to the plumage. Some of 

 the feathers of the sides and rump are also tipped with white. 



Wing similar to the adult. The white of the secondaries, however, ex- 

 tends along the margin of the outer web farther toward the base. There 

 is also a small ashy spot at the apex of the seventh primary, and traces of 

 the same on the eigiith, ninth, and tenth primaries. The secondary 

 coverts are obscurely tipped with white ; and the under wing-coverts have 

 conspicuous white tips. Tail similar to that of the adult; but the black 

 lines on the shafts of the rectrices extend nearer to the tip (three-fifths of 

 its length in the fourth rectrix) ; the black on the inner webs of the outer 

 four rectrices * extends along the shaft farther from the base; and on the 

 fifth the white covers the end of the inner web for a fifth of the way to the 

 base, runs up the middle of the web at least as much more, and extends 

 along the edge of the web tw^o-thirds of the way to the base. Under tail- 

 coverts white, as in the adult. 



The bill was dark gray; and the feet were gra\ . 



I give the following measurements (in centiinetres), and add for com- 

 parison the average of those of six adults. All the measurements are from 

 dried skins. 



5 , juv., No. 1340 (first plumage) : Wing, 17.80; tail, 10.40; culmen. J. 95 ; 

 commissure. 3.40: depth at nostrils, i.oo; width at nostrils, 1.05: tarsus. 

 3.30; middle toe, 2.40; middle claw. r.io. 



Average of six adults : Wing, 19.28; tail. 11.73; culmen. 4. 11 ; commis- 

 sure, 4.53 ; depth at nostrils, 1.25; width at nostril, 1.16; tarsus. 3.54: 

 middle toe. 2.63; middle claw, 1.28. 



*In the publishecf descriptions of this species I can find no reference to this black 

 marking, which seems to have been overlooked, authors stating that the outer four pairs 

 of rectrices are "white." 



