WESTERN CROW. Corvus brachyrhynchos hesperis Ridgway

Field characters.—Much smaller than Red-tailed Hawk; plumage solidly black. Flight in direct course, with steadily flapping wings. Voice: a loud caw, uttered singly or repeated, and with different inflections according to circumstances.

Occurrence.—Resident in the San Joaquin Valley; casual in the nearby foothills. Occasionally seen in Yosemite Valley. Lives in open country, roosting and nesting usually in oak trees.

The Western Crow is locally common in many parts of the San Joaquin Valley, especially along the river bottoms. Small flocks were seen frequenting hog pastures at Snelling during the winter of 1914-15. On May 26, 1915, two individuals were observed there in flight overhead and they may have been nesting in the vicinity. Mr. Donald D. McLean has told us that, in the fall, crows occasionally visit the vicinity of Smith Creek, east of Coulterville; two were shot there in 1914. A mounted specimen exhibited in the Park Superintendent's office in 1919 had been shot in Yosemite Valley at some time within the previous three years. Mr. C. W. Michael (MS) saw two crows feeding on Sentinel Meadow on October 24, 1920.