Bird Biographies

								

seeds were by far the most numerous. Mr. A. J. Pieters, of the Botanical
Division of the Department of Agriculture, germinated some of them, thus
demonstrating the fact that they were distributed uninjured.
"The pellets were made up not only of seeds and skins, but largely of
fruit pulp in an undigested state. It seems strange that the birds
should have rid themselves of a substance that still contained a good
deal of nutriment.
"Little is known of the distribution of fruit seeds by crows during
migration, but it is certain that they do this work effectively while
they fly to and from the roosts where they congregate in winter, for
their feeding grounds often cover an area stretching out on all sides
from the roosts for 50 miles or more. It appears highly probable that
the crows which are found in winter at Marshall Hall roost at
Woodbridge, D. C., some 15 miles distant. There, in the midst of several
acres of woodland, a crow dormitory is established, in which probably
100,000 crows sleep every winter night. It was visited in February,
1901, and the ground was found to be strewn with disgorged pellets."[9]
The FISH CROW (16 inches long) is three inches smaller than the common
crow. It has a more uniform iridescence above, and is greenish
underneath. Its caw is hoarser and more nasal. Its range is from
Connecticut and the lower Hudson southward, generally near the coast. It
is abundant in Virginia, and near the city of Washington.
The FLORIDA CROW is similar to the American Crow, except that its bill
and feet are larger, its wings and tail shorter.

                               THE RAVEN
The NORTHERN RAVEN so resembles the crow that it is often difficult to
distinguish them. The chief differences are the raven's much greater
size (from 22 to 26½ inches), and its note, which sounds more like
Croak than Caw. This is the raven found in Alaska, northern Canada,
and Greenland,--the bird especially revered by Alaskan Indians. It is
found also in the northern United States,--in the state of Washington,
in Minnesota, the Adirondacks, and elsewhere.
Major Charles Bendire, in his "Life Histories of North American Birds,"
makes the following statements about the northern raven:
"It lives to a great extent on offal and refuse of any kind, and is
generally most abundant in the immediate vicinity of Indian camps and
settlements, which are mostly located on the seashore, or on the banks
of the larger rivers in the interior where these birds act as
scavengers. Hundreds of ravens may frequently be seen in the vicinity of
the salmon-canning stations. Clams also form a part of their food; these
are said to be carried some distance in the air and dropped on the rocks
to break their shells. They also prey to no small extent on the young
and eggs of different water-fowl."
THE CARDINAL

            Cardinal Grosbeak, Redbird, Virginia Nightingale