THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA 
5 6 
eggs. Four to six, pale green or bluish-white, freckled, spotted, 
and blotched with blackish-brown and light umber, the markings 
being larger and more plentiful at the larger end. Breeding-season: 
August to December 
17. Little Crow Corvus bennetti North 
bennetti— Kenric H. Bennett, ornithologist and collector, Riverina, 
New South Wales. 
distribution. Northern and central Australia and the interior 
generally. 
notes. Also called Small-billed Crow. Usually in pairs or small 
parties; it is not destructive, feeding chiefly on insects and small 
reptiles, to which are added seeds and berries. The call-note is “Car", 
repeated six or eight times. 
nest. Similar to that of the Raven, but usually placed in a scrub 
tree away from the creek timber. 
eggs. Four or five to six or seven, pale greenish-grey, speckled and 
uniformly spotted all over with blackish-brown and olive-brown 
markings. Breeding-season: August to November. 
18. Crow Corvus cecilce Mathews 
cecilce —from the name of a relative of Gregory M. Mathews. 
distribution. Tropical northern Australia, Dirk Hartog Island, 
central Australia, South Australia, Queensland, and north-eastern 
New South Wales. 
notes. Also called Hazel-eyed Crow. In the breeding-season it is 
met with in isolated pairs, but congregates in flocks during autumn and 
winter. Frequents alike mountain ranges and belts of timber bordering 
inland rivers and creeks. Food: carrion, insects, young birds, and eggs; 
also cultivated fruits of all kinds. Useful in keeping down the blow-fly 
pest. It is often mistaken for the Raven and blamed for killing lambs. 
Crows are distinguished from the Raven in having the bases of the 
feathers on the upper-parts white and dusky-grey, those of the Raven 
being black. 
nest. Similar in construction and situation to that of the Raven. 
eggs. Four to five, sometimes six: a typical clutch is pale greenish- 
grey, speckled, spotted, and blotched with blackish-brown and olive- 
brown markings. Breeding-season: August to January. 
