Fear of Man in certain Forest Birds. 131 



peculiarity entitles it to be considered a distinct species. The 

 Carrion CROW (C. Americanus) * is somewhat larger than the 

 Old World corby, with the neck feathers less pointed ; how- 

 ever there is no mistaking the " caw " of the former, which 

 resembles the bark of a dog. Indeed, we might, on the 

 principles of natural selection, fairly ask how far these modi- 

 fications may have been brought about by circumstances 

 which a closer acquaintance with the habits and haunts of 

 these four birds could explain. The raven affects the shores 

 of this region, whereas the crow is universally distributed, re- 

 pairing more or less to the coast districts in winter. It is much 

 persecuted by the settlers on account of its pilfering habits, 

 and, in common with the Blue Jay (C. cristatd), is wild and 

 wary. The contrast in this respect between the latter and its 

 far less gaudy congener the Canadian Jay, is easily explained, 

 for whilst the former is in request on account of its beautiful 

 wings, the latter is allowed to pass unchallenged, and 

 accordingly retains all its pristine indifference to man's 

 presence, being his constant companion in the wilderness, and 

 alighting even on the carcase of the slain moose, whence its 

 familiar name of moose bird. I have moreover seen it picking 

 this animal's flesh from a carcase carried on the back of an 

 Indian. Why it breeds in midwinter I cannot discover, 



* Mr. Rowan, whose observations in the island of Anticosti I have 

 freely quoted, observes in connection with the habits of the black duck 

 {Anas obscura) and this species in midsummer : " I never had any 

 trouble in keeping our larder supplied with black duck. In the spring 

 they seem to live entirely on herring spawn and small shellfish, and feed 

 amicably on the beach along with the gulls and crows. The latter birds 

 are in clover here at this season. I could not at first account for the 

 number of urchin and other shells which lay scattered about the plains, 

 but I soon found out that they had been carried there by the crows. I 

 saw a crow one day fly up in the air with an urchin and drop it on the 

 rocks, and repeat the operation two or three times before he managed to 

 get at the interior." — Field, May 1, 1869. And Prof. Verril says the crow 

 is one of the most " unsuspicious of birds " in Anticosti. Proc. Boston 

 Soc. Nat. Hist., vol. ix., p. 138. 



