Conspicuously Black 
until we have had an opportunity to compare its hoarse, cracked 
voice with the other bird’s familiar call. 
From the farmer’s point of view, there is still another dis- 
tinction: the fish crow lets his crops alone. It contents itself 
with picking up refuse on the shores of the sea or rivers not far 
inland; haunting the neighborhood of fishermen’s huts for the 
small fish discarded when the seines are drawn, and treading out 
with its toes the shell-fish hidden in the sand at low tide. When 
we see it in the fields it is usually intent upon catching field- 
mice, grubs, and worms, with which it often varies its fish diet. It 
is, however, the worst nest robber we have ; it probably destroys 
ten times as many eggs and young birds as its larger cousin. 
The fishermen have a tradition that this southern crow 
comes and goes with the shad and herring— a saw which science 
unkindly disapproves. 
American Raven 
( Corvus corax principalis) Crow family 
Called also: NORTHERN RAVEN 
Length — 26 to 27 inches. Nearly three times as large as a robin. 
Male and Female — Glossy black above, with purplish and greenish 
reflections. Duller underneath. Feathers of the throat and 
breast long and loose, like fringe. 
Range — North America, from polar regions to Mexico. Rare 
along Atlantic coast and in the south. Common in the 
west, and very abundant in the northwest. 
Migrations — An erratic wanderer, usually resident where it finds 
its way. 
The weird, uncanny voice of this great bird that soars in 
wide circles above the evergreen trees of dark northern forests 
seems to come out of the skies like the malediction of an evil 
spirit. Without uttering the words of any language — Poe’s 
“Nevermore” was, of course, a poetic license — people of all 
nationalities appear to understand that some dire calamity, some 
wicked portent, is being announced every time the unbirdlike 
creature utters its rasping call. The superstitious folk crow with 
an “ I told you so,” as they solemnly wag their heads when they 
hear of some death in the village after “the bird of ill-omen ” has 
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