196 THE BIRDS 
[490]. Corvus ossifragus (Wilson). Fish Crow. 
[Carrion Crow]. 
Ranex.—Carolinian and Austroriparian faunas of 
Atlantic and Gulf Coasts from lower Delaware and 
Hudson River Vallevs and Connecticut to Louisiana and 
Florida; casual in Massachusetts. 
There are few birds more common in Tidewater Vir- 
ginia, especially James River Peninsula, than the Fish 
Crow. On the seacoast from boundary to boundary one 
may see hundreds of these birds both winter and summer, 
gathering the refuse along the beach just above the tide 
line. As a beach scavenger I do not place them second to 
the vultures. In this respect they probably offset the 
damage they do further inland to the peanut fields. On 
the islands they destroy thousands of eggs of the gulls, 
terns, Clapper Rail, and formerly the Great Blue, and 
Green Herons. On the lower end of James River Penin- 
sula is a famous roosting place or rookery for these birds 
in winter. Thousands of these birds roost at night in 
the pine trees there, scattering each morning for the 
beaches, and especially the peanut fields in Nansemond 
and Isle of Wight counties, both the latter flights 
necessitating the crossing of James River, some seven to 
seven and a half miles wide. The distance to their peanut 
feeding grounds is probably not less than twenty to 
twenty-five miles, and with the return trip, quite a 
distance is covered for their favorite food. As the farmers 
turn their hogs into the peanut fields to fatten on the nuts 
left in the ground after taking off the vines, the Fish Crows 
