324 AMERICAN CROW. 



and, although shorter, resemble tliose of the Raven ; but in the Ameri- 

 can Crow they are three times as broad, rounded, and entirely blended. 



Lastly, the American species has a decided purpUsh-brown tinge on the 

 neck, while the European bird has that part glossed with green and blue. 



I am happy on this occasion to have an opportunity of referring you 

 to an excellent paper, on the specific characters of birds, by Mr Mac- 

 GiLLivRAY, which you will find in the Transactions of the Wernerian 

 Natural History Society, and in which he shews the great advantage that 

 may be derived from attending to the structure and form of the feathers. 

 The characters by which the American Crow is distinguished from the 

 European Carrion Crow are an exemplification of his views, in which I 

 cordially agree : — " Allowing," says he, " only a partial application of 

 the principle of characterizing the species by the forms of the feathers, 

 even this would be a matter of importance ; and were the attention of 

 ornithologists directed toward this point, there can be little doubt that 

 discoveries would quickly be made, which would determine species and 

 varieties with much greater precision than can be attained by attending 

 to colour alone." 



The Black Walnut. 



JuGLANs NIGRA, WUld. Sp. PI. vol. iv. p. 45C. PuTsh, Flor. Amer. Sept. vol. iL p. 636. 



Mich. Arbr. Forest, vol. i. p. 157. pi- i Monizcia Polyandria, Linn. Tere- 



binthacEjE, Juss. 



The Black Walnut of the United States is generally a tree of beauti- 

 ful form, and often, especially in the Western and Southern States, at- 

 tains a great size. Wherever it is found, you may calculate on the land 

 being of good quality ; the wood is very firm, of a dark brown tint, vein- 

 ed, and extremely useful for domestic purposes, many articles of furni- 

 ture being made of it. It is also employed in ship-building. When us- 

 ed for posts or fence rails, it resists the action of the weather for many 

 years. The nuts are gathered late in autumn, and although rather too 

 oily, are eaten and considered good by many persons. The husking of 

 them is however a disagreeable task, as their covering almost indelibly 

 stains every object with which it comes in contact. 



See Vol. I. p 433. 



