214 N^"^ YORK STATE MUSEUM 



Corvus brachyrhynchos brachyrhynchos Brehm 



Crow 



Plate 72 



Corvus brachyrhynchos Brehm. Beitr. VogeUcunde. 1822. 2:56 

 Corvus americanus DeKay. Zool. N. Y. 1844. pt 2, p. 132, fig. 52 

 Corvus brachyrhynchos brachyrhynchos A. O. U. Check List. Ed. 3. 

 1910. p. 228. No. 488 5 



brachyrhynchos, Gr., shortbilled 



Description. With the exception of the Raven, our largest passerine 

 bird. Plumage entirely shiny black with purplish reflections. The bristly 

 nasal tufts reach halfway to the end of the bill. 



Length 17-21 inches; extent 34.5-38; wing 11. 9-13. 3; tail 7-8; bill 

 1.8-2; tarsus 2.2-2.4. 



Distribution. The Crow inhabits eastern North America from southern 

 Mackenzie, central Quebec and Newfoundland to Texas and the Gulf 

 States. In winter it withdraws from the northern limit of its range, but 

 in New York is an abundant winter resident throughout the coastal district, 

 the Hudson valley, and the lowlands of western New York. It breeds 

 in every county of the State, entering the Catskills and Adirondacks along 

 the cleared land and river valleys to the very centers of those districts. 

 About Mt Marcy we found crows at Boreas pond. Flowed land, Keene 

 valley, and John Brown's grave, but they do not inhabit the depths of 

 the Adirondack forest, being replaced by the Raven in the wildest portion 

 ■of the western Adirondacks. On the highlands of southwestern New York 

 and in the northern portions of the State, the Crow makes its appearance 

 early in March with the first warm weather, perhaps about the same time 

 as the Robin and Blue bird, sometimes a few days earlier. In all parts 

 of the State the mating season may be said to occur in March and in the 

 warmer portions of the State the nests are repaired, or the construction 

 begun, as early as the third week in March, and the eggs are frequently 

 laid by the ist of April. But the average date would perhaps be April 

 15 to 30. The nest of the Crow is usually placed in the fork of a tall tree, 

 ■either evergreen or deciduous, at a height varying from 10 to 80 feet from 



