Plate CXLVI. Male and Female.
Feathers of the head and neck oval and blended; third quill longest;
tail considerably rounded, a small space at the base of the lower
mandible on each side bare; general colour black, with blue and purple
reflections above, blue and greenish beneath. Young brownish-black,
with the blue and purple reflections less brilliant.
_Male_, 16, 33, _Female_, 15, 31.
From the mouths of the Mississippi upwards to Natchez, and along the
Atlantic to New York. Common. Resident in the Southern States.
Columbia River.
Fish Crow, Corvus ossifragus, Wils. Amer. Orn. v. v. p. 27.
Corvus ossifragus, Bonap. Syn. p. 57.
Fish Crow, Corvus ossifragus, Nutt. Man. v. i. p. 216.
Fish Crow, Corvus ossifragus, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. ii. p. 268;
v. v. p. 479.
GENUS II. PICA, Briss. MAGPIE.
Bill of moderate length, stout, considerably compressed; upper
mandible with the dorsal line declinate and arched, the sides convex,
the ridge narrow, the edges nearly straight and overlapping, the
notches faint, the tip declinate, and rather sharp; lower mandible
with the angle rather long and wide, the dorsal line ascending and
slightly convex, the edges inclinate, the tip narrow. Nostrils basal,
lateral, roundish, covered by narrow stiff feathers directed forwards.
Head large, ovate; neck rather short; body compact. Legs of moderate
length, strong; tarsus stout, compressed, with eight scutella; toes of
moderate length, stout, first large, stronger; lateral nearly equal,
third considerably longer. Claws strong, arched, compressed, acute.
Plumage full, soft, blended. Wings of moderate length, much rounded,
the first quill very short, extremely narrow and falciform, fourth and
fifth longest. Tail very long, graduated. Digestive organs as in
Corvus.