THE FL0E1DA CEOW. 413 



163. Corvus americanus floridanus Baird. 



FLORIDA CROW. 



Corvus americanus var. floridanus Baird, Birds North America, 185S, 568. 

 (B 427, O 228a, E 282a, C 341, U 488a.) 



Geographical range: Florida. 



The Florida Crow is distinguishable from its northern relative by its decid- 

 edly larger feet and bill, and its usually shorter wing and tail. It is a constant 

 resident in Florida, and its general habits are similar to those of the American 

 Crow. Dr. Ralph reports it common in the vicinity of San Mateo, Putnam 

 County, Florida, and has sent both birds and eggs to the United States National 

 Museum collection from there. Several nests were found by him in tall, slender 

 pine trees in low, flat pine woods, usually bordering on swamps. The nests 

 were located in the tops of trees, on horizontal limbs, and close to the trunk, 

 at distances varying from 45 to 70 feet from the ground. They are usually 

 composed of small sticks, lined first with Spanish moss and then with strips of 

 cypress bark; occasionally a few feathers from the sitting bird, hair from cows' 

 tails, bunches of fine grass, and grass with the rootlets attached entered into the 

 composition of the linings, and in one instance the eggs were laid on about half 

 a pint of fine rotten wood. The nests average in measurement about 24 by 

 9 inches in outer diameter, the inner cup being about 16 inches in width by 5 

 inches in depth. 



The eggs vary from three to five in number to a set; they are indistin- 

 guishable from those of the American Crow, and are usually deposited in the 

 latter part of February or the first week in March. In a set of five taken by 

 Dr. Ralph, on March 3, 1891, incubation was advanced about two-thirds, while 

 in a set of three taken March 31, 1892, it had just commenced. 



The average measurement of twenty eggs of this subspecies in the United 

 States National Museum collection is 4L.72 by 29.72 millimetres, or about 1.64 

 by 1.17 inches. The largest egg measures 45.46 by 29.21 millimetres, or 1.79 by 

 1.15 inches; the smallest, 38.10 by 29.21 millimetres, or 1.50 by 1.15 inches. In 

 a larger series of these eggs the average measurements would probably be 

 somewhat reduced. 



The type specimens, Nos. 24180 and 25590 (PI. 4, Figs. 13 and 14), both 

 from the Ralph collection, the first from a set of five, the latter from one of three 

 eggs, were collected by Dr. William L. Ralph, near San Mateo, Florida, on March 

 3, 1891, and March 8, 1892, respectively. They will answer equally well for 

 representations of some of the smaller-sized eggs of the American Crow. 



