92 
tHE AMERICAN CROW. 
branch of the black walnut tree, loaded with nuts, on the lower twig of 
which I have represented the delicate nest of our Common Humming-bird. 
In conclusion, I would again address our farmers, and tell them that if 
they persist in killing Crows, the best season for doing so is when their 
corn begins to ripen. 
Crow, Corvus Corone, Wils. Amer. Orn., vol. iv. p. 79. 
Corvus Corone, Bonap. Syn., p. 56. 
Corvus Corone, Swains, and Rich. F. Bor. Amer., vol. ii. p. 291. 
Crow, Corvus Corone , N*utt. Man., vol. i. p. 209. 
American Crow, Corvus Americanus, And. Orn. Biog., vol. ii. p. 317 ; vol. v. p. 477 
Feathers of the head and neck oval and blended ; fourth quill longest ; 
general colour black, with purplish-blue reflections ; the hind parts of the 
neck tinged with purplish-brown ; the lower parts less glossy. Young of 
a rather dull brownish-black, with the blue and purple reflections much 
less brilliant. 
Male, 18, 38. 
Generally distributed from the Gulf of Mexico to Columbia river ; through- 
out the interior, and along the coast, northward to lat. 55°. Congregates 
in immense numbers in the Southern and Western States during winter. 
A specimen preserved in spirits measures in length to end.of tail 18J inches, 
to end of wings 17, to end of claws 161, extent of wings S5 ; wing from 
flexure 121 ; tail i ; bill along the ridge 2 ; tarsus 2|. 
The palate is concave, with two ridges ; the upper mandible internally 
with five ridges, the lower deeply concave, with a median prominent line. 
The tongue is 1 inch 2 twelfths long, semicircularly emarginate at the base 
and papillate, one of the papillae on each side very large ; it is horny toward 
the end, narrow, thin-edged, and with the point slit, the fissure being 11- 
twelfths in depth. The width of the mouth is 1 inch 1 twelfth ; the oeso- 
phagus, abed, is 7 inches long, averages 7 h twelfths in width, is funnel- 
shaped at the commencement, passes along the right side of the neck until 
it enters the thorax, and has its walls of moderate thickness, with external 
transverse fibres. The proventricular glands are very small, and form a 
belt 71 twelfths in breadth. The stomach, d e f is 11 inches long, 1 inch 
5 twelfths broad, of a roundish form, considerably compressed ; its lateral 
muscles large, being about a quarter of an inch thick ; its tendons, e, also 
large and radiating, their transverse diameter 1 inch ; the cuticular lining 
thick, dense, of a dark reddish-brown colour, with broad longitudinal rug®. 
The intestine, f g h l, forms a curve at the distance of 21 inches, bends for- 
wards toward the right lobe of the liver, then forms four circular convolu- 
tions, and terminates in the rectum. Its length is 29 inches, its width 4^ 
