40 
GREAT CROW-BLACKBIRD. 
and tail feathers, having a slight banded appearance, which is 
equally observable in the male. 
The young at first resemble the female, but have the irides 
brown, and the males gradually acquire the brilliant plumage of 
the adult. 
The Great and Common Crow-Blackbirds, are both alike dis¬ 
tinguished by the very remarkable boat-like form of the tail, but the 
great difference of size, appearance of the females, length of the 
tail, prominence of the osseous carina, and brilliancy of colouring, 
most obviously prove them to be altogether specifically distinct. 
The Great Crow-Blackbird inhabits the southern part of the 
Union, where it is called Jackdaw; Georgia and Florida appear 
to be its favourite residence. The disposition of this species is 
extremely social, and they frequently mingle with the Common 
Crow-Blackbird; vast flocks are seen among the sea islands and 
neighbouring marshes on the main land, where they feed at low 
water, on the oyster beds and sand flats. 
The chuck of our species is shriller than that of the Common 
Crow-Blackbird, and it has other notes which resemble the noise 
made by a watchman’s rattle; their song is only heard in the 
spring, and though the concert they make is somewhat melancholy, 
it is not altogether disagreeable. Their nests are built in company, 
on reeds and bushes, in the neighbourhood of marshes and ponds: 
they lay about five eggs, which are whitish, spotted with dark- 
brown, as represented in the plate. 
Mr. Ord mentions in his paper, that the first specimens he saw 
of this bird, were obtained on the 22d of January at Ossabaw 
Island, when but a few males were seen scattered over the cotton 
plantations. Advancing towards the south, they became more 
numerous; and in the early part of February, the males, unac¬ 
companied by females, were common near the mouth of the river 
San Juan, in Florida. A few days after, the females appeared, 
and associated by themselves on the borders of fresh water ponds; 
