488 COEVID^. 



2. Corvus cryptoleucus. 



Corvus cryptoleucus, Couch^ Pr. Ac. Phil. 1854^ p. 66 ^ ; Baird, Mex. Bound. Surv. Zool. ii., Birds,, 

 p. 20 = ; Dresser, Ibis, 1865, p. 494'; Baird, Brew., & Ridgw. N. Am. B. p. 243*. 



The fourth quill is longest ; the third and fifth equal ; the second longer than the sixth ; the first equal to the 

 seventh. Glossy hlaok with violet reflections, feathers of neck all round black, and breast snow white at 

 the base. Length about 21-00, wing 14-00, tail 8-50. Feathers of the throat lanceolate ; bristly- 

 feathers along the base of the biU, covering it for nearly two thirds of its length. (Baird, Brew., and 

 Kidgw. N. Am. B. ii. p. 242.) 



Hah. NoETH America along the southern border of the United States. — Mexico, 

 Tamaulipas [Couch'^), Janos {Kennerly ^), Charco Escondido (Couch^). 



This species was described from Mexican specimens obtained during the United 

 States Boundary Survey, and it appears to be not uncommon in the States of Northern 

 Mexico, in the valley of the Eio Grande, and in that of the Gila, but nothing is known 

 of it in Central or Southern Mexico. We have no specimen of this species, nor are 

 there any in the British Museum, and we have nothing to add to the account given in 

 the ' History of the North- American Birds.' 



3. Corvus mexicanus. 



Corvus mexicanus, Gm. Syst. Nat. i, p. 375^; Licht. Preis-Verz. mex. Vog. p. 1, cf. J. f. Orn.^ 

 1863, p. 56'; Baird, Brew., & Ridgw. N. Am. B. ii. p. 333'; Lawr. Mem. Bost. Soc. N. H. 

 ii. p. 383*. 



Nitente purpurascente-niger ; capite summo magis purpuraseente ; corpore subtus SBueo-viridi micante ; rostro- 

 et pedibus nigris. Long, tota 14-0, alse 10-3, caudse 6-5, rostri a rictu 1*8, tarsi 1-7. (Descr. maris ex 

 Mazatlan, Mexico. Mus. nostr.) 



Hai. Mexico 1 (Deppe^), Mazatlan (Grayson \ Xantus^). 



This pretty little Crow, which has been identified with the Corvus meooicanus of 

 Gmelin, is distinguished by the lustre of its plumage, which is almost exactly of the 

 same tint as that of the male of Quiscalus macrurus. Its range appears to be very 

 restricted, and we only know of its occurrence at Mazatlan and at San Bias, on the sea- 

 coast of North-western Mexico. Grayson says that it is quite common at the latter 

 place, where it breeds, forming its nest in the tall cocoa-nut palms that grow in the 

 town ; he also found it breeding in similar situations in the suburbs of Mazatlan ; but 

 it is more numerous on the Mazatlan river, where he found its nest in the thorny 

 Mimosa-tiees. The nest is composed of small sticks and grass, much like that of the 

 Common Crow (C. americanus) ; the eggs, too, are much like those of that species, only 

 smaller. Its habits resemble those of the Common Crow, though the present species 

 is a little more arboreal, feeding on the various kinds of fruits which it finds in the 

 tropical forests. Like the Common Crow, however, it often descends to the ground in 

 search of insects and their larvae, which it hunts for by turning up bits of wood and in 

 the newly-ploughed fields ; but it may more frequently be seen upon the shore at low 



