344 FISH CROW. 
ent; their favorite haunts being about the banks of the rive, along 
which they usually sailed, dexterously snatching up with their claws 
dead fish, or other garbage, that floated on the surface. At the coun- 
try seat of Stephen Elliot, Esq., near the Ogechee River, I took notice 
of these Crows frequently perching on the backs of the cattle, like 
the Magpie and Jackdaw of Britain; but never mingling with the 
Common Crows, and differing from them in this particular, that the 
latter generally retire to the shore, the reeds, and marshes, to roost, 
while the Fish Crow always, a little before sunset, seeks the interio 
high woods to repose in. 
On my journey through the Mississippi Territory, last year, I resided 
for some time at the seat of my hospitable friend, Dr. Samuel Brown, 
a few miles from Fort Adams, on the Mississippi. In my various ex- 
cursions there, among the lofty, fragrance-breathing magnolia woods, 
and magnificent scenery, that adorn the luxuriant face of nature in 
those southern regions, this species of Crow frequently made its ap- 
pearance, distinguished by the same voice and habits it had in Geor- 
gia. There is, in many of the ponds there, a singular kind of lizard, 
that swims about, with its head above the surface, making a loud 
sound, not unlike the harsh jarring of a door. These the Crow now 
before us would frequently seize with his claws, as he flew along the 
surface, and retire to the summit of a dead tree to enjoy his repast. 
Here I also observed him a pretty constant attendant at the pens 
where the cows were usually milked, and much less shy, less suspi- 
cious, and more solitary than the Common Crow. In the county of 
Cape May, New Jersey, I again met with these Crows, particularly 
along Egg Harbor River ; and, latterly, on the Schuylkill and Dela- 
ware, near Philadelphia, during the season of shad and herring fishing, 
viz. from the middle of March till the beginning of June. A small 
party of these Crows, during this period, regularly passed Mr. Bar- 
tram’s gardens to the high woods to roost, every evening, a little before 
sunset, and as regularly returned, at or before sunrise, every morning, 
directing their course towards the river. The fishermen along these 
rivers also inform me that they have particularly remarked this Crow, 
by his croaking voice, and his fondness for fish; almost always hover- 
ing about their fishing places to glean up the refuse. Of their man- 
ner of breeding I can only say, that they separate into pairs, and build 
in tall trees near the sea or river shore; one of their nests having been 
built, this season, in a piece of tall woods near Mr. Beasley’s, at Great 
Egg Harbor. The male of this nest furnished me with Fig. 159. 
From the circumstance of six or seven being usually seen here to- 
gether in the month of July, it is probable that they have at least four 
or five young at a time. 
I can find no description of this species by any former writer. Mr. 
Bartram mentions a bird of this tribe, which he calls the Great Sea- 
side Crow; but the present species is considerably inferior in size to 
the Common Crow; and, having myself seen and examined it in so 
many and remotely-situated parts of the country, and found it in all 
these places alike, I have no hesitation in pronouncing it to be a new, 
and hitherto undescribed species. 
The Fish Crow is sixtt en inches long, and thirty-three in extent; 
black all over, with reflec “ns of steel-blue and purple; the cfin is 
