BIRDS^ — COEVIDAE — COKVUS CRYPTOLEUCUS 



5&5 



the same. The Corvus nohilis, according to Gould, is distinguished from hoth the European bird 

 and that of the United States by more metallic lustre of plumage, more lengthened and slender 

 bill, longer primaries, and more cuneate tail. The length is given at 25 inch«s ; wing, 18 ; 

 tail, 11 ; tarsi, 3 ; bill, 3^. 



List of specimens. 



CORVUS CRYPTOLEUCUS, Couch. 



White-necked Crow. 



Corvus cryptoleucus. Couch, Fr. A. N. Sc. Vll, April, 1854, 66. Tamaulipas, Mexico. 



Sp. Cb. — The fourth quill ia longest ; the third and fifth equal ; the second longer than the sixth ; the first about equal to the 

 seventh. Glossy black, with violet reflections ; feathers of neck all round, back, and breast, snow white at the base. Length, 

 about 31 inches ; wing, 14.00 ; tail, 8j. Feathers of throat lanceolate ; bristly feathers along the base of the bill covering it for 

 nearly two- thirds its length . 



Hub. — ^Valley of Rio Grande and Gila. Abundant on the Llano Estacado. 



In describing this curious raven, the smallest of our North American species with pointed 

 feathers on the throat, I have selected a specimen (10300) which is rather larger than the Texan 

 ones, but is otherwise much the same. Considerably smaller than the common raven, the bill 

 is also smaller ; the incumbent feathers of the nostrils reach over the basal two-thirds of the bill 

 instead of over one-half only as in the other species. The tarsus is a very little longer than 

 the middle toe and claw ; tliere are eight scutellae in front. 



The porportions of the quills are expressed in the foUowirig table of distances from the tip of 

 the longest to the tip of each primary : 



The first primary is thus intermediate between the seventh and eighth. 



The tail is moderately long, and not much graduated ; the outer feathers about 1 J inches 

 shorter than the inner. The middle feathers have nearly parallel outlines. The lanceolate 

 feathers on the throat are quite distinct, though possibly not so long proportionately as in the 

 common raven. 



The general color of this raven is a lustrous black, with violet reflections, almost exactly as 

 in the common species. Its most striking distinctive feature, however, is seen in the feathers 

 of the neck all round^ upper part of the back, and the whole breast, which are pure snowy 



