The American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)

The American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) is a common bird found throughout North America. Its scientific name means literally "short-billed crow", from Ancient Greek brachy- (βραχυ-) "short-" and rhynchos (ρυνχος) "bill".

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Title: Field book of wild birds and their music: a description of the character and music of birds, intended to assist in the identification of species common in the eastern U.S.

Author: Ferdinand Schuyler Mathews, Publisher: G.P. Putnam's sons, 1906. Original from: Harvard University, Digitized: May 10, 2008, Length: 262 pages, Subjects: Birds, Birdsongs, Nature, Birds & Birdwatching.

This familiar American character has become a standard by which we calculate conditions, such as as black as a All the year crow," " as the crow flies," "as sharp as a crow," etc. No description of the bird's appearance is really necessary, but it may as well be said at once, that in the fullest sense of the word he is not black ! The entire plumage is characterized by an iridescent steel-blue or violet.

This is particularly noticeable on the neck, shoulders, wings, and tail. The feathers of the under parts are less metallic and lustrous than those of the upper parts. The nest is a clumsy affair, built of twigs, sticks, bark, grass, etc.; it is generally in the crotch of a bough fully thirty feet above ground. Egg a beautiful dull green-blue thickly speckled with brown; sometimes it is blue-white, or pale blue with sparse markings. The bird is distributed from the northern United States south to Florida, where it is represented by the Florida Crow.