THE FISH CROW. 
299 
predatory propensities of the carrion Crow on hens 5 eggs, yonng chickens, and even turkey 
poults, I would have shot them had they been a pair of carrion Crows ; but I was anxious to 
watch the result of what appeared to me at the time a remarkable union. 
“Judging from the manners of the two birds, the almost evident incubations and careful- 
ness exhibited, I should say that the Hooded Crow is the female, though the carrion Crow did 
frequently sit upon the eggs. After the young of the first year took wing, I perceived that the 
one was a carrion and the other a Hooded Crow, and this distinctive character was maintained 
in the young which were hatched every year, so long as I remained in that part of the country. 
I shot the first young pair, and ascertained that the hooded one was the female, and the carrion 
was the male, which confirmed me in my conjecture of the sexes of the parents. Ever after, 
old and young were unmolested by me ; but notwithstanding the increase of number every 
year after the first one, only one pair came annually to build in these beech-trees.” 
This species has often been tamed, and displays much affection for its owner. One of these 
birds, which had been wounded and captured, was placed in a walled garden together with 
the poultry, with whom it soon made friends. In process of time it recovered from its wound, 
took flight and disappeared. But after an absence of some months it returned to its old quar- 
ters, and voluntarily took its place again with the poultry in the well-remembered spot, and 
was quite as familiar with the owner of the house as any of the hens. 
The Hooded Crow is boldly and conspicuously pied with gray and black, distributed as 
follows : The head, back of the neck, and throat, together with the wings and tail, are glossy 
bluish-black, while the remainder of the body is a very peculiar gray, with a slight blackish 
wash. The length of the bird is about nineteen or twenty inches. It goes by many names 
in different parts of the country, among which Dun Crow, Hoody, and Hoddy are the most 
common. 
The Philippine Crow derives its name from the locality in which it is found, its place 
of residence being the Philippine Islands. 
It is a striking and handsome bird on account of the elegant crest which decorates its 
head, and the general hue of its plumage. It is not a large bird, measuring only eleven inches 
in total length. The color of the upper parts of the body is pale green, dashed with yellow 
here and there, according to the direction of the light, and a similar tint, but with more 
yellow, under the throat. A black band runs round the head, enveloping the eye in its 
progress, and is partially covered by the loose, flowing feathers of the crest. The dense wing- 
coverts are brown, the quill-feathers are deep olive-green on their exterior sides, and the 
secondaries are tipped with white with a slight dash of green. The bill and legs are of a 
reddish hue. 
The Fish Crow of America is about the size of the common jackdaw, its length being 
generally about sixteen inches. Our chief information of this bird and its habits is derived 
from Wilson ; and as his account cannot be condensed without great loss of its original vigor 
and freshness, it is here given at length : — 
“I first met with this species on the sea-coast of Georgia, and observed that they regu- 
larly retired to the interior as evening approached, and came down to the shores of the river 
Savannah by the first appearance of day. Their voice first attracted my notice, being very 
different from that of the common Crow, more hoarse and guttural, uttered as if something 
stuck in their throat, and varied into several undulations as they flew along. Their manner of 
flying was also unlike the others, as they frequently sailed about without flapping their wings, 
something in the manner of the raven ; and I soon perceived that their food and their mode of 
procuring it were also different, their favorite haunts being about the banks of the river, along 
which they usually sailed, dexterously snatching up with their claws dead fish or other garbage 
that floated on the surface. At the country seat of Stephen Elliot, Esq., near the Ogechee 
river, I took notice of these Crows frequently perching on the backs of the cattle, like the 
magpie and jackdaw of Britain, but never mingling with the common Crows, and differing 
