88 
CROW. 
corn from the depredations of the Crows, not permitting one 
to approach it. 
The Crow is eighteen inches and a half long, and three feet 
two inches in extent ; the general colour is a shining glossy 
blue black, with purplish reflections ; the throat and lower 
parts are less glossy ; the bill and legs, a shining black, the 
former two inches and a quarter long, very strong, and covered 
at the base with thick tufts of recumbent feathers ; the wings, 
when shut, reach within an inch and a quarter of the tip of 
the tail, which is rounded ; fourth primary, the longest ; 
secondaries scolloped at the ends, and minutely pointed, by 
the prolongation of the shaft; iris, dark hazel. 
The above description agrees so nearly with the European 
species, as to satisfy me that they are the same ; though the 
voice of ours is said to be less harsh, not unlike the barking of 
a small spaniel : the pointedness of the ends of the tail-feathers, 
mentioned by European naturalists, and occasioned by the 
extension of the shafts, is rarely observed in the present 
species ; though always very observable in the secondaries. 
The female differs from the male in being more dull 
coloured, and rather deficient in the glossy and purplish tints 
and reflections. The difference, however, is not great. 
Besides grain, insects, and carrion, they feed on frogs, 
tadpoles, small fish, lizards, and shell fish ; with the latter 
they frequently mount to a great height, dropping them on 
the rocks below, and descending after them to pick up the 
contents. The same habit is observable in the Gull, the Raven, 
and Sea-side Crow. Many other aquatic insects, as well as 
marine plants, furnish them with food; which accounts for 
their being so generally found, and so numerous, on the sea 
shore, and along the banks of our large rivers. 
