. Birds of America;. Birds -- North America. 232 BIRDS OF AMERICA FISH CROW Corvus ossifragus Wilson A. O. U. Number 490 See Color ['late 72 General Description.—Length, 13M inches. Plum- age, black. Wings, long and pointed; tail, much shorter than wing; bill compressed, and higher than broad; feet, stout. Color.— Entire plumage, glossy black; the upper parts, glossed with bluish-violet (more purplish-violet on lesser wing-coverts and secondaries), the under parts, glossed with bluish-green or greenish-blue; iris, brown. Nest and Eggs.— Nest: In maritime cedars, about 20 feet up; a platform of
. Birds of America;. Birds -- North America. 232 BIRDS OF AMERICA FISH CROW Corvus ossifragus Wilson A. O. U. Number 490 See Color ['late 72 General Description.—Length, 13M inches. Plum- age, black. Wings, long and pointed; tail, much shorter than wing; bill compressed, and higher than broad; feet, stout. Color.— Entire plumage, glossy black; the upper parts, glossed with bluish-violet (more purplish-violet on lesser wing-coverts and secondaries), the under parts, glossed with bluish-green or greenish-blue; iris, brown. Nest and Eggs.— Nest: In maritime cedars, about 20 feet up; a platform of sticks with sides of bark, twigs, and grasses, lined with grapevine or other bark, grass, and a few leaves. Eggs: 4 to 6, smaller than, but otherwise exactly similar to, those of the Common Crow. Distribution.— Atlantic and Gulf coast districts of United States, including peninsula of Florida; north to lower Hudson valley and shores of Long Island Sound (breeding in eastern Connecticut near Rhode Island border), casually to Massachusetts; west along the Gulf coast to Louisiana; not restricted to the im- mediate coast, but extending back to base of Blue Ridge Mountains (at least in summer), and abundant about lakes and streams in interior of Florida. The Fish Crow is far more common along the coast and about rivers and lakes than in the fields and wooded uplands. It feeds largely on such forms of animal life a;; die and float ashore. It is also a great egg-eater. In the south the Heron and Ibis rookeries are constantly robbed by them. As an example of their destructive- ness to birds' eggs, there may be mentioned the colony of twenty pairs of Little Blue Herons on Big Lake, North Carolina, from which every egg was taken by Fish Crows while a company ot naturalists were photographing in the neighbor- hood. The Herons left their nests upon the approach of the men but the Fish Crows came boldly upon the scene and inside of an hour had completely plundered every nest. This
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, bookidbirdsofameri, bookyear1923
