A History of North American Birds; Land Birds; Vol. 2 of 3Baird, Spencer Fullerton
Science
A History of North American Birds; Land Birds; Vol. 2 of 3
Baird, Spencer Fullerton
Birds -- North America
HABITS. The common resident Crow of Florida exhibits so many
peculiarities differing from the northern species, that Professor
Baird, in his Birds of America, deemed it worthy of mention at least
as a race, if not a distinct species. We have no account of its
habits, and do not know if, in any respects, they differ from those of
the common Crow. Dr. J. C. Cooper, in his brief manuscript notes on
the birds of Florida, made in the spring of 1859, speaks of the
Florida Crow as very common, as being quite maritime in its habits,
and as having full-fledged young on the 20th of April. Three eggs of
this race, obtained in Florida in the spring of 1871, by Mr. Maynard,
differ not more from those of the Crow than do those of the latter
occasionally from one another. They measure 1.73 by 1.20 inches; 1.70
by 1.20; and 1.54 by 1.25. Their ground-color is a bright
bluish-green, and they are all more or less marked, over the entire
egg, with blotches of a mingled bronze and brown with violet shadings.
The latter tints are more marked in one egg than in the others, and in
this the spots are fewer and more at one end, the larger end being
nearly free from markings. Their average capacity, as compared with
the average of the _C. americanus_, is as 5.1 to 4.2.
Corvus caurinus, BAIRD.
NORTHWESTERN FISH CROW.
_Corvus caurinus_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 569, pl. xxiv.—COOPER
& SUCKLEY, 211, pl. xxiv.—DALL & BANNISTER, Tr. Chic. Ac. I,
1869, 286 (Alaska).—FINSCH, Abh. Nat. III, 1872, 41
(Alaska).—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 285.
SP. CHAR. Fourth quill longest; fifth and third about equal; second
longer than sixth; first shorter than ninth. Color black, glossed with
purple. Tail nearly even. Tarsus longer than middle toe and claw.
Length about 16.50; wing about 11.00; tail about 7.00.
HAB. Northwestern coast, from Columbia River to Sitka.
This species is readily distinguished from the eastern Fish Crow by
the larger size; the absence of green gloss on the belly; the tarsi
longer than the middle toe and claw, instead of shorter; and the
second quill being generally shorter than the sixth instead of longer,
and considerably shorter than the culmen, instead of longer.
It is rather to be compared with _C. americanus_, with which it agrees
in colors, but from which it differs, essentially, in having the wing
and tail very much shorter, while the bill is considerably longer, and
in having the tarsus shorter than the culmen, instead of longer, as in
all the other North American species. In this last respect it agrees
with _C. mexicanus_ (see synopsis, p. 829) of Western Mexico; in this,
however, the color and proportions are entirely different.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account