BLACK CROW. 
an 
any reparation (after the manner of the Hook) for the robberies they have committed is, I am of opinion, „„ 
open question. It is probable a certain quantity of destructive grubs and insects form part of their diet; and 
I have no doubt, from what I have observed, that they clear oil large numbers of mice, if not young rats and 
moles, during the course of the year. 
Many years ago I frequently observed this species pairing with the Grey Crow in the Highlands; and for 
some time I believed, when this was the case, that the young took after one or the other of the parents. In the 
summer of 18GG, when living in the north-west of Perthshire, I trapped one young bird and shot another near 
the same spot, both of which exhibited signs of being a cross between the two species. In each case the 
plumage of the whole of the body was black, with the exception of a small patch of grey on the neck and 
back. On first examining them I was in doubt whether they might be young Jackdaws, being uncertain 
whether that species had a white eye in the immature state. A glance at a Jackdaw’s nest, however, disclosed 
the fact that the iris is of the same colour in the mature and immature stages. A few days later two more young 
birds, in almost similar plumage, were killed in the same glen by the keeper, who reported that he saw them 
flying after a pair of old Crows, one of which was black and the other grey. During the remainder of my 
residence in Perthshire I met with no further opportunities of observing this curious intermediate plumage. 
AVe kept down so effectually the whole race of Crows, whether Grey or Black, that I do not remember a single 
young one being hatched out in the neighbourhood. There were usually several Black Crows to be seen 
early in the spring ; these in every instance paired with Grey Crows. I never met with a pair of Black Crows 
in that part of the Highlands. I often remarked that, however closely any species of this description of 
vermin might he killed down, the places of those destroyed were filled up the following season. As hut little 
attention was paid to preserving on many of the adjoining shootings, there was always a reserve of Crows close 
at hand to fill up all vacancies. 
A few years later I again fell in with the Black and Grey Crows interbreeding in the more northern 
counties. The result of my observations only confirmed the opinion I had previously formed, viz. that the 
offspring most frequently resembled either one or the other of the parents, though occasionally they showed a 
half-and-half state of plumage. The information I received from foresters and keepers in the various districts 
I passed through plainly indicated that those who had paid any attention to these birds were all aware of the 
same facts ; and in almost every case their experience was identical with my own. It appears that certain 
scientific naturalists have at length arrived at the conclusion that the Grey and the Carrion or Black Crow 
are simply varieties of one and the same species. According to the experience of several careful observers and 
sportsmen, the progeny of a pair of birds, where one is black and the other grey, may be either perfectly Black 
or Grey Crows, or even young ones exhibiting a curious mixture of colour, black, as a rule, predominating. 
This agrees with what I have myself witnessed and the reports I have received from keepers in various parts 
of the Northern Highlands. Some writers also assert they met with Crows showing “ every stage ot 
plumage, from pure black to the perfectly marked Hooded Crow, and this without reference to age or sex 
(the italics are my own). As I have never come across these hybrids paired and breeding, I conclude the 
writers must have been more successful in their observations than myself. Unless the birds had been clear y 
distinguished engaged in nesting-operations, I should be of opinion it was scarcely justifiable to state that they 
had been recognized at all ages. It is, however, quite possible that such observations may have been made 
and recorded in some work to which I have not had access. I should not have noticed these statements, had 
I not called to mind that they somewhat differed from the ideas of a very close observer of nature (a resident 
in Inverness) with whom I had, some years ago, several discussions on the above subject. This old Highlander 
was perfectly convinced in his own mind that whatever colours the offspring of the Grey and Black Cions 
might take in their first plumage they would eventually turn into either the perfect Black or Grey C ow. 
The facts he related would certainly lead to the belief that such changes must (occasionally at least) take plac . 
