GREAT CROW BLACKBIRD. 195 
appearance of the bird is black; the whole head and neck 
having bluish purple reflections ; the interscapular region, 
breast, belly, sides, and smaller wing-coverts are glossy steel- 
blue; the back, rump, and middling wing-coverts are glossed 
with copper-green ; the vent, inferior tail-coverts, and thighs 
are plain black. ‘The undescribed parts of the wings are deep 
black, slightly glossed with green, as well as the tail, which is 
cuneiform, capable of assuming a boat-shaped appearance, and 
measures nearly eight inches in length from its insertion, sur- 
passing the tip of the wings by five inches. 
The female is considerably shorter, measuring only twelve 
and a half inches in length, and seventeen inches and a half 
in extent. The bill, from the angle of the mouth, is one 
inch and a half long, and, with the feet, is black; the irides 
are of a still paler yellow than those of the male. The head 
and neck above are light brown, gradually passing into dusky 
towards the back, which, with the scapulars and lesser wing- 
coverts, has slight greenish reflections; a whitish line passes 
from the nostrils over the eye, to the origin of the neck. The 
chin, throat, and breast, are dull whitish ; the anterior part of 
the breast is slightly tinged with brownish; the flanks are 
brownish ; the belly brownish white; and the vent and in- 
ferior tail-coverts are blackish brown, each feather being mar- 
gined with pale. The remaining parts are of a dull brownish 
black, slightly glossed with greenish ; the secondaries, tail- 
coverts, and tail-feathers, having a slight banded appearance, 
which is equally observable in the male. 
The young at first resemble the female, but have the irides 
brown, and the males gradually acquire the brilliant plumage 
of the adult. 
The great and common crow blackbirds are both alike dis- 
tinguished by the very remarkable boat-like form of the tail, 
but the great difference of size, appearance of the females, 
length of the tail, prominence of the osseous carina, and bril- 
liancy of colouring, most obviously prove them to be altogether 
specifically distinct. 
