BIRDS—CORVIDAE—CORVUS CRYPTOLEUCUS 
565 
the same. The Corvus nobilis, according to Gould, is distinguished from both the European bird 
and that of the United States by more metallic lustre of plumage, more lengthened and slender 
hill, longer primaries, and more cuneate tail. The length is given at 25 inches ; wing, 18 ; 
tail, 11 ; tarsi, 3 ; bill, 3j. 
List of specimens . 
Catal. No. 
Locality. 
When collected. 
Whence obtained. 
Orig. No. 
Collected by— 
6855 
10297? 
Bill Williams’ fork, Camp 
115, N. M. 
Camp 110_ 
Feb. 7, 1854 
Jan. 31, 1854 
Lieut. Whipple.. 
73 
54 
Kennerly and Mollhauseri- 
_do_ 
10295? 
Colorado Desert___ 
Lieut. Williamson_ 
CORVUS CRYPTOLEUCUS, Couch. 
White-necked Crow. 
Corvus cryptoleucus, Couch, Pr. A. N. Sc. VII, April, 1854, 66. Tamaulipas, Mexico. 
Sp. Ch. —The fourth quill is longest; the third and fifth equal ; the second longer than the sixth ; the first about equal to the 
seventh. Glossy black, with violet reflections ; feathers of neck all round, back, and breast, snow white at the base. Length, 
about 21 inches ; wing, 14.00 ; tail, 8|. Feathers of throat lanceolate ; bristly feathers along the base of the bill covering it for 
nearly two-thirds its length. 
Hab .—Valley of Rio Grande and Gila. Abundant on the Llano Estacado. 
In describing this curious raven, the smallest of our North American species with pointed 
feathers on the throat, I have selected a specimen (10300) which is rather larger than the Texan 
ones, but is otherwise much the same. Considerably smaller than the common raven, the bill 
is also smaller ; the incumbent feathers of the nostrils reach over the basal two-thirds of the bill 
instead of over one-half only as in the other species. The tarsus is a very little longer than 
the middle toe and claw; there are eight scutellae in front. 
The porportions of the quills are expressed in the following table of distances from the tip of 
the longest to the tip of each primary : 
1st. 
2d. 
3d. 
4th. 
5th. 
6th. 
7th. 
8th. 
9th. 
No. 10300. 
4. 45 
1.10 
. 05 
0. 
.50 
2.30 
3. 90 
4. 70 
Ji 
The first primary is thus intermediate between the seventh and eighth. 
The tail is moderately long, and not much graduated ; the outer feathers about inches 
shorter than the inner. The middle feathers have nearly parallel outlines. The lanceolate 
feathers on the throat are quite distinct, though possibly not so long proportionately as in the 
common raven. 
The general color of this raven is a lustrous black, with violet reflections, almost exactly as 
in the common species. Its most striking distinctive feature, however, is seen in the feathers 
of the neck all round, upper part of the back, and the whole breast, which are pure snowy 
