AMERICAN CROW. 319 



is assuredly the very same bird as that met with in the western wilds of 

 the United States, although some ornithologists have maintained the con- 

 trary, and that I am not disposed to make differences in name where 

 none exist in nature. I consider our Crow as rather less than the Euro- 

 pean one, and the form of its tongue does not resemble that of the latter 

 bird ; besides the Carrion Crow of that country seldom associates in num- 

 bers, but remains in pairs, excepting immediately after it has brought its 

 young abroad, when the family remains undispersed for some weeks. 



Wherever our Crow is abundant, the Raven is rarely found, and 

 vice versa. From Kentucky to New Orleans, Ravens are extremely rare, 

 whereas in that course you find one or more Crows at every half mile. 

 On the contrary, far up the Missouri, as weU as on the coast of Labra- 

 dor, few Crows are to be seen, while Ravens are common. I found the 

 former birds equally scarce in Newfoundland. 



Omnivorous like the Raven, our Crow feeds on fruits, seeds, and vege- 

 tables of almost every kind ; it is equally fond of snakes, frogs, hzards, 

 and other small reptiles ; it looks upon various species of worms, orubs 

 and insects as dainties ; and if hard pressed by hunger, it will aHo-ht up- 

 on and devour even putrid carrion. It is as fond of the eggs of other 

 birds as is the Cuckoo, and, like the Titmouse, it will, during a paroxysm 

 of anger, break in the skuU of a weak or wounded bird. It delights in 

 annoying its twilight enemies the Owls, the Opossum, and the Racoon, 

 and will even foUow by day a fox, a wolf, a panther, or in fact any other 

 carnivorous beast, as if anxious that man should destroy them for their 

 mutual benefit. It plunders the fields of their superabundance, and is 

 blamed for so doing, but it is seldom praised when it chases the thievincy 

 Hawk from the poultry-yard. 



The American Crow selects with uncommon care its breeding place. 

 You may find its nest in the interior of our most dismal swamps, or on 

 the sides of elevated and precipitous rocks, but almost always as much 

 concealed from the eye of man as possible. They breed in almost every 

 portion of the Union, from the Southern Cape of the Floridas to the ex- 

 tremities of Maine, and probably as far westward as the Pacific Ocean. 

 The period of nestling varies from February to the beginning of June, 

 according to the latitude of the place. Its scarcity on the coast of La- 

 brador, furnishes one of the reasons that have induced me to believe it 

 different from the Carrion Crow of Europe ; for there I met with several 



