FISH CROW. 
247 
others, as they frequently sailed about, without flapping 
the wings, something in the manner of the raven ; and 
I soon perceived that their food, and their mode of 
procuring it, were also both different : their favourite 
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 from them in 
this particular, that the latter generally retire to the 
shore, the reeds, and marshes, to roost, while the fish- 
crow always, a little before sunset, seeks the interior 
high woods to repose in. 
On my journey through the Mississippi territory last 
year, I resided for some time at the seat of my hospi- 
table friend, Dr Samuel Brown, a few miles from Fort 
Adams, on the Mississippi. In my various excursions 
there, among the lofty fragrance-breathing magnolia 
woods, and magnificent scenery, that adorn the luxuriant 
face of nature in those southern regions, this species of 
crow frequently made its appearance, distinguished by 
the same voice and habits it had in Georgia. There is, 
in many of the ponds there, a singular kind of lizard, 
that swims about, with its head above the surface, 
making a loud sound, not unlike the harsh jarring of 
a door. These the crow now before us w r ould frequently 
seize with his claws, as he flew along the surface, and 
retire to the summit of a dead tree to enjoy his repast. 
Here I also observed him a pretty constant attendant 
at the pens where the cows were usually milked, and 
much less shy, less suspicious, and more solitary than 
the common crow. In the county of Cape May, New 
Jersey, I again met with these crows, particularly along 
Egg-Harbour river ; and latterly on the Schuylkill and 
Delaware, near Philadelphia, during the season of shad 
and herring fishing, viz. from the middle of March till 
the beginning of June. A small party of these crows, 
