COBVID^—COEVIN^: CROWS. 
417 
340. c. frugi'vorus. (Lat. frugivorus, fruit-eating : frux, fruit ; voro, I devour.) Common Ameri- 
can Crow. The common crow is a foot and a half long, or rather more; wing 12 to 14 inches ; 
tail 7 to 8 ; bill 1.75-2.00, about 0.75 high at base ; tarsus about equal to middle toe and claw, 
rather exceeding the bill. First primary not longer than 10th. Feathers of the throat oval, 
soft, and blended ; no snowy- white under-plumage. The burnishing is chiefly on the wings, 
tail, and back, the head being nearly dead-black. The 9 is decidedly smaller than the ^, 
and under-sized cabinet specimens are not seldom labelled *^ ossifragus." Eastern N. Amer., 
chielly U. S., not ordinarily found westward in the interior, where the raven abounds ; rare or 
wanting in the Upper Missouri and Southern Kocky Mt. regions ; common, however, in some 
parts of California. In settled parts of the country the crow tends to colonize, and some of its 
"roosts" are of vast extent. Mine is on the Virginia side of the Potomac, near Washington. 
Crows are always flying west over the city in the afternoon, and when as a boy I used to see 
the gray of the morning, crows were flying the other M^ay. It is doubtless the same now ; but 
I oftener hear midnight migrants than see such early birds " these days. Nest in trees, any- 
where in the woods, usually concealed with some art, though so bulky ; built of sticks and 
trash; eggs 4-6-7, 1-60 X 1-20, like the raven's in color and markings, and equally variable. 
(C. americanus, Auct.) 
341. C. f. florida'nus. (Lat. of Florida.) Florida Crow. Eepresents the greater relative size of 
the bill and feet shown by many resident birds of Florida and corresponding latitudes. 
342. C. cauri'nus. (Lat. caurus, the N. W. wind, whence caurinus, northwestern.) North- 
western Fish Crow. Small : about the size of the common fish crow, but feet more as in 
C. americanus, the tarsus not being shorter than the middle toe and claw, though rather less 
than the bill; 1st primary longer than 10th. Length 14.00-16.00; wing 10.50; tail 6.50; 
bill 1.75-2.00. N. Pacific coast, Oregon to Alaska; maritime; piscivorous; voice said to be 
different from that of C. frugivorus. 
343. C. mari'timus. (Lat. maritimus, maritime ; mare, the sea.) South-eastern Fish Crow. 
Small. Length 14.00-16.00; wing 10.00-11.00; tail 6.00-7.00; bill 1.50 ; tarsus 1.60 ; mid- 
dle toe and claw 1.75. First primary not longer than 10th; a bare space about the gape? 
South Atlantic and Gulf States, N. to New England. Common ; maritime, piscivorous. 
Apparently a different bird from any of the foregoing, as it presents some tangible distinctions, 
although constantly associated with C. frugivorus. Nest and eggs not to be distinguished 
with certainty from those of the common crow, though averaging smaller. (C. ossifragus 
Wils.) 
107. PICICOR VUS. (Com- 
pounded oipicus, a wood- 
pecker, or a magpie, 
and corvits, a crow. Fig. 
269.) American Nut- 
crackers. General 
characters of the Euro- 
pean Nucifraga. Bill 
slenderer, more acute, 
with more regularly 
curved culmen and com- 
missure, and straight in- 
stead of convex and ascending gonys ; as a whole somewhat decurved. Nostrils circular, con- 
cealed by a full tuft of plumules. Wings long and pointed, folding to the end of the tail; 5th 
quill longest; 4th, 3d, 6th little less; 2d much shorter, 1st not half as long as 5th. Tail little 
over half as long as wing, little rounded. Tarsus shorter than middle toe and claw; the envelope 
divided into small plates on the sides behind toward the bottom. Claws very large, strong, 
27 
Fig. 269. — Head of Picicorvus, nat. size. (Ad nat. del. E. C. ) 
