232 
CARRION CROW. 
is almost entirely supplied by it ; and beyond the 
middle Highlands the same comparative distribu- 
tion occurs, the Carrion Crow giving place to the 
next. In Ireland, Mr Thompson writes to us, 
that through the north of Ireland they chiefly 
frequent the sea coast. Of its foreign range we 
know it to be spread over Europe, and is noted 
by Temminck among the Japanese birds ; but it 
does not extend to North America, as was sup- 
posed, the species occurring there, (C. Ameri- 
canus) being quite distinct, differing in all its 
form and proportions. When writing the notes 
for Wilson’s North American Ornithology, al- 
though we had no doubt of the fact, the want of 
specimens for comparison prevented us entering 
on the subject. Soon after, we received a speci- 
men from Pennsylvania, through the kindness of 
Mr Swainson, which at once removed all doubt ; 
and since that, we have examined other American 
skins sent to us by Mr Doubleday. Mr Audubon, 
in 1834, described it in his biography as distinct. 
The outline of the bill of the American bird 
exhibits some difference from that of the true C. 
corone, being weaker and much less conical in 
shape, forms at once reconcilable with the bird 
much less carnivorous, and almost as it were 
holding a place between C. corone and frugilegus. 
The plumage is entirely black, with steel-blue 
reflections, and in the height of the breeding state 
it is very rich and glossy. The female is rather 
smaller than the male. The Carrion Crow may be 
distinguished from the C. Americanus by the 
