Page:Ornithological biography, or an account of the habits of the birds of the United States of America, vol 2.djvu/355

Rh is assuredly the very same bird as that met with in the western wilds of the United States, although some ornithologists have maintained the con- trary, and that I am not disposed to make differences in name where none exist in nature. I consider our Crow as rather less than the Euro- pean one, and the form of its tongue does not resemble that of the latter bird ; besides the Carrion Crow of that country seldom associates in num- bers, but remains in pairs, excepting immediately after it has brought its young abroad, when the family remains undispersed for some weeks.

Wherever our Crow is abundant, the Raven is rarely found, and vice versa. From Kentucky to New Orleans, Ravens are extremely rare, whereas in that course you find one or more Crows at every half mile. On the contrary, far up the Missouri, as weU as on the coast of Labra- dor, few Crows are to be seen, while Ravens are common. I found the former birds equally scarce in Newfoundland.

Omnivorous like the Raven, our Crow feeds on fruits, seeds, and vege- tables of almost every kind ; it is equally fond of snakes, frogs, hzards, and other small reptiles ; it looks upon various species of worms, orubs and insects as dainties ; and if hard pressed by hunger, it will aHo-ht up- on and devour even putrid carrion. It is as fond of the eggs of other birds as is the Cuckoo, and, like the Titmouse, it will, during a paroxysm of anger, break in the skuU of a weak or wounded bird. It delights in annoying its twilight enemies the Owls, the Opossum, and the Racoon, and will even foUow by day a fox, a wolf, a panther, or in fact any other carnivorous beast, as if anxious that man should destroy them for their mutual benefit. It plunders the fields of their superabundance, and is blamed for so doing, but it is seldom praised when it chases the thievincy Hawk from the poultry-yard.

The American Crow selects with uncommon care its breeding place. You may find its nest in the interior of our most dismal swamps, or on the sides of elevated and precipitous rocks, but almost always as much concealed from the eye of man as possible. They breed in almost every portion of the Union, from the Southern Cape of the Floridas to the extremities of Maine, and probably as far westward as the Pacific Ocean. The period of nestling varies from February to the beginning of June, according to the latitude of the place. Its scarcity on the coast of Labrador, furnishes one of the reasons that have induced me to believe it different from the Carrion Crow of Europe ; for there I met with several