THE AMERICAN CROW. 91 



enemies. Several individuals may frequently be seen pursuing a Hawk or 

 an Eagle with remarkable vigour, although I never saw or heard of one 

 pouncing on any bird for the purpose of preying on it. They now and then 

 teaze the Vultures, when those foul birds are alighted on trees, with their 

 wings spread out, but they soon desist, for the Vultures pay no attention to 

 them. 



The most remarkable feat of the Crow, is the nicety with which it, like 

 the Jay, pierces an egg with its bill, in order to carry it off, and eat it with 

 security. In this manner I have seen it steal, one after another, all the eggs 

 of a wild Turkey's nest. You will perceive, reader, that I endeavour to 

 speak of the Crow with all due impartiality, not wishing by any means to 

 conceal its faults, nor withholding my testimony to its merits, which are such 

 as I can well assure the farmer, that were it not for its race, thousands of 

 corn-stalks would every year fall prostrate, in consequence of being cut over 

 close to the ground by the destructive grubs which are called "cut-worms." 



I never saw a pet Crow in the United States, and therefore cannot say 

 with how much accuracy they may imitate the human voice, or, indeed, if 

 they possess the power of imitating it at all, which I very much doubt, as in 

 their natural state they never evince any talents for mimicry. I cannot say 

 if it possess the thieving propensities attributed by authors to the European 

 Crow. 



Its gait, while on the ground, is elevated and graceful, its ordinary mode 

 of progression being a sedate walk, although it occasionally hops when under 

 excitement. It not unfrequently alights on the backs of cattle, to pick out 

 the worms lurking in their skin, in the same manner as the Magpie, Fish- 

 Crow, and Cow-bird. Its note or cry may be imitated by the syllables caw, 

 caw, caw, being different from the cry of the European Carrion Crow, and 

 resembling the distant bark of a small dog. 



At Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania I saw a pair of Crows perfectly white, in 

 the possession of Mr. Lampdin, the owner of the museum there, who 

 assured me that five which were found in the nest were of the same colour. 

 . Although the common American Crow ranges from the Gulf of Mexico 

 to the shores of the Columbia river, where it is abundant, as well as on the 

 Rocky Mountains, it does not, according to Dr. Richardson, proceed farther 

 north than the 55th parallel of latitude, nor approach within five or six 

 hundred miles of Hudson's Bay, appearing in the Fur Countries during the 

 summer only. I found it abundant in the Texas, where it breeds. The 

 eggs measure one inch five-eighths in length, an inch and one-eighth in 

 breadth. 



I have placed the pensive oppressed Crow of our country on a beautiful 



