CLARK'S CROW. ,jq 



moulting, I began to think that this might be its most per- 

 manent, or, at least, its summer or winter dress. 



The little information I have been able to procure of the 

 species generally, or at what particular season these were 

 shot, prevents me from being able to determine this matter to 

 my wish. 



I can only learn that they inhabit the extensive plains or 

 prairies of the Missouri, between the Osage and Mandan 

 nations ; building their nests in low bushes, and often among 

 the grass. With us, the tanagers usually build on the branches 

 of a hickory or white oak sapling. These birds delight in 

 various kinds of berries, with which those rich prairies are 

 said to abound. 



CLARK'S CROW. (Corvus Columbians) 



PLATE XX.— Fig. 2. 



Peale's Museum, No. 1371. 

 CORVUS COLUMBIAJSTUS.—SwAmsiO*!. 

 Corvus Columbianus, Bonap. Synop. p. 56. 



This species resembles a little the jackdaw of Europe {Cor- 

 vus monedula) ; but is remarkable for its formidable claws, 

 which approach to those of the Falco genus, and would 

 seem to intimate that its food consists of living animals, 

 for whose destruction these weapons must be necessary. In 

 conversation with different individuals of the party, I under- 

 stood that this bird inhabits the shores of the Columbia and 

 the adjacent country in great numbers, frequenting the 

 rivers and sea-shore, probably feeding on fish ; and that it 

 has all the gregarious and noisy habits of the European 

 species, several of the party supposing it to be the same. 

 The figure in the plate was drawn with particular care, after a 

 minute examination and measurement of the only preserved 



