THE CROW AND ITS RELATION TO MAN. 3 



the term " crow," there is considerable uncertainty as to identification 

 in regions where the bird is scarce or where its range overlaps that of 

 closely related species. Ordinarily little distinction is made by 

 residents of the South Atlantic coast between the common crow and 

 the fish crow, a bird of quite different habits; and similar confusion 

 exists among nonornithologists of the northwestern coast, where the 

 other maritime form, the northwestern crow, mingles with the com- 

 mon species. In the Southwest the small white-necked raven fre- 

 quently passes under the appellation of crow, and in some other parts 

 of the West even the larger ravens have been misnamed. 



Inasmuch as it is contemplated eventually to issue reports on the 

 economic status of all members of the genus Corvus, which includes 

 both crows and ravens, it seems well to define clearly the systematic 

 position and range of the common crow, the one of which this bul- 

 letin treats. Eleven subspecifically different forms of the genus 

 Corvus have been recorded from North America and Greenland. The 

 ranges of nine of these come within the borders of the United States. 

 The other two forms are the rook (Corvus frugilegus Linnaeus) and 

 the hooded crow (Corvus comix Linnaeus), both of which have oc- 

 curred in Greenland. Of the ravens three are found in the United 

 States. The northern raven (Corvus corax principalis Eidgway), a 

 more or less arctic race, occurs along the northern border and at the 

 higher altitudes, while the common raven (C. c. sinuatus Wagler) is 

 a more abundant form in the Western States. The white-necked 

 raven (C. cryptoleucus Couch) occupies part of the southwestern 

 desert regions. By far the most numerous species of this genus in 

 the United States is the common crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos 

 brachyrhynchos Brehm), which, with the three closely related sub- 

 species, the Florida crow (G. b. pascuus Coues), the southern crow 

 (C. b. paulus Howell), 1 and the western crow (C. b. hesperis Eidg- 

 way), gives practically a transcontinental range to the species. 

 Corvus b. brachyrhynchos Brehm extends its breeding range north- 

 ward nearly to the mouth of the Mackenzie River, northern Mani- 

 toba, central Quebec, and Newfoundland. It may be found from the 

 Atlantic coast westward to Montana, Wyoming, central Nebraska, 

 Kansas, and Texas. The limit of its range on the west, however, 

 can not be stated satisfactorily, as in the western part of the Plains 

 the crow is merely a rare and erratic breeder. The western crow 

 (C. b. hesperis Eidgway) is found in the Pacific Coast States and 

 eastward to eastern British Columbia, Montana, and Texas. The 

 southern crow (C. b. paulus Howell) has a range extending through- 

 out the Gulf States east of central Texas and northward as far as the 



iProc. Biol. Soc, Washington, XXVI, pp. 199-202, Oct. 23, 1913. 



