258 CROWS, JAYS, ETC. 



it means; he has far too much confidence in his undoubted ability to 

 escape his human persecutors. He laughs at their attempts to entrap 

 him ; his insolent assurance is admirable. For several centuries man 

 has been his sworn enemy, nevertheless he appears to have held his 

 own, accepting and adjusting himself to every new condition. 



Afraid of no one, he migrates boldly by day, and in March and 

 October we may see him with his comrades high in the air, returning 

 to or leaving their summer homes. In winter the Crows are exceed- 

 ingly abundant along our seacoasts, where they congregate to feed on 

 mollusks, fish, and other sea food. 



At this season they roost in colonies. It has been estimated that 

 some roosts contain upward of three hundred thousand birds.* Early 

 in the morning, with regularly executed manoeuvres, they start on the 

 day's foraging, flying low, on the lookout for food. Late in the after- 

 noon they return at a much greater height — "as the Crow flies" — and, 

 alighting at some point near the roost, wait the coming of the last 

 stragglers. Then, at a given signal, they all rise and retire for the 

 night. 



No one who has listened to Crows will doubt that they have a lan- 

 guage. But who can translate it? 



488a. C. a. floridanus Baird. Florida Crow. — Similar to the pre- 

 ceding, but wings and tail somewhat shorter, and bill and feet slightly larger. 

 L., 20-00 ; W., 11-60-12-30 ; T., 7-00-7-70 ; B., 2-00-2-20 ; depth of B. at base, 

 •75--85; Tar., 2-40-2-50 (Eidgw.). 



J?afl.ye.— Florida ; confined largely to the pine-woods. 



490. Corvus ossiCragus Wih. Fish Crow, ^(i.— Entire plumage 

 black, with steel-blue or deep purplish reflections, generally more greenish on 

 the under parts. L., 16-00 ; W., 1100 ; T., 6-40 ; B., 1-50. 



Semarhs. — The Fish Crow may be distinguished from the common Crow 

 (1) by its much smaller size. (2) By the uniform and somewhat richer color 

 of the back. In americanus the feathers of the back have dull tips ; when 

 the freshly-plumaged bird is held between the observer' and the light these 

 tips give the back a ringed or slightly scaled appearance. In ossifragius these 

 tips are wanting, and the back is uniformly colored. (3) By the brighter color 

 of the under parts. In americanus the under parts are generally much duller 

 than the upper parts ; in pssifragus they are nearly as bright. 



Range. — Gulf and Atlantic coast, as far north as southern Connecticut; 

 resident except at the extreme northern part of its range. 



Washington, rather common P. R. Cambridge, A. V., one record, Moh. 



Nest, of sticks, lined with strips of grapevine bark, moss, grasses, etc., 

 generally in pines or cedars, twenty to fifty feet up. Eggs, four to six, simi- 

 lar in color to those of O. americanus, 1-52 x 1-06. 



* Ehoads, Crow Roosts and Roosting Crows, Am. Nat., 1886, pp. 691-700, 777-787. 



