222 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXVIII 
‘Thus there are no records from the Euphrates and none from the Tigris 
south of Ali Gharbi, at which place the hills are only some 15 miles distant. 
Here and at Sheik Saad it is fairly common in winter frequenting in pairs 
the old battle fields, at Kut it is scarce and from Kut to some way north 
of Baghdad it appears to be absent, this stretch of the river being 60 miles 
or more from the hills. 
Four specimens examined: Q@, Sheik Saad, 22-12-16; Baiji, 18-4-19 
{P.Z.C. and R.E.C.). ¢ 9, Ali Gharbi, 14-11-17 (P.A.B.). 
The Mesopotamian birds agree well with the Indian ones, wings 
427-440 mm.; bill 71-80, greatest height 27-29°5 mm. 
In worn plumage they become very brown and might be mistaken for 
C. ruficollis. 
Weigold records this race also from Urfa and Zarudny from the Karun 
district. 
[The only record of C. ruficollis, the Brown-necked Raven, is that of a 
skin in the B. M. labelled Mesopotamia from either Loftus or the Euphrates 
Expedition. Mr. Kinnear, who kindly hunted up this skin and examined 
it for me, says that itis a very worn specimen of Jdauwrencei. Statements 
received concerning the occurrence of this species require verification and 
until specimens are forthcoming I include it in square brackets.] 
2. Hooded Crow. Corvus cornix. “Ghrabi.’’ 
1. Corvus corniax sharpit, Oates (Fauna Brit. India Birds, 1 
p. 20, 1889—Siberia). 
2. Corvus cornix capellanus, Sclater (P.Z.S., Lond., 1876, p. 694, 
tab. LX VI—Head of Persian Gulf). 
(1) Sharpe’s Crow is a winter visitor to the Mesopotamian plains from 
the Persian highlands ; its time of arrival and departure were not reported 
on and, as by some observers this bird was mixed up with the resident bird 
it is somewhat difficult to elucidate its distribution. It has been noted at 
Shush and on the Karun and Kerkha rivers in March by Woosnam and 
is recorded as a winter visitor in this area by Zarudny and at Basra by 
Tomlinson; but most observers agree it is a rarer bird everywhere than 
-capellanus particularly so in the lower parts of the plain; thus Buxton met 
with it but seldom at Amara and it was apparently not common at 
Nasariyeh. Round Baghdad however it is plentiful and is reported from 
the Euphrates as far north as Ramadi, but on the Tigris there are no records 
_ north of Baghdad except from near Shahroban. Weigold records that a 
crow nests at Urfa, near the Syrian boundary, which, he says, is somewhat 
dark for sharpit but paler than corntv, This crow joins up with the flocks 
of the resident bird in winter. 
(2) Iam inclined to regard the resident crow of the Mesopotamian plains 
as a subspecies of tne Hooded Crow and not as a separate species as it 
clearly replaces sharpii as the breeding crow of the plains, whereas the 
latter is also clearly the breeding bird of the Persian highlands. 
The Mesopotamian Crow is resident throughout the year and its distribution 
would appear to be practically that of the date palm. 
It is found from Fao up the Karun river to Ahwaz, Dizful, Shuster, Bund-i-kir 
and down towards Bushire ; but Woosnam noted that as soon as the plains were 
left behind its place was taken by sharpii. 
Passing up the Tigris it is common wherever there are palms to Baghdad 
.and up the Euphrates to Museyib, beyond which town it seems to be scarce as 
Pitman only knew of one pair at Feluja. North of Baghdad on the Tigris it is 
said to be common in the gardens on the Diala river and near Sindia and it is 
not uncommon as far north as Samarra and Tekrit, beyond which there are no 
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