CROWS. 



523 



Mr. Forbes has recently described some peculiarities of its structure, especially 

 that of the trachea, from a specimen which died in the Zoological Gardens at London, 

 but want of space prevents us from further remarks. 



At first thought, the step from the glory we have described above to the family 

 that has taken its name from the crow --the CORVID^E seems rather sudden. But 

 a little closer inspection of the structure of these birds, and a little knowledge of the 



/- ''...-- ' : 

 ' ^i&'-, : 



= 



' 



FIG. 257. Nucifraga caryocatactes, spotted nut-cracker ; Ferisoreus infaustus, Siberian jay. 



more brilliantly colored of the so-called crows will soon convince us that the birds-of- 

 Paradise and the sagacious but scavenger-duty-performing ravens and crows are not 

 so very distantly related. 



This family is cosmopolitan, though not occurring in New Zealand, and rather 

 sparingly represented in the Australian region. If the Avestern and the eastern 

 hemispheres of the globe be compared, it will be found that nearly two thirds of the 

 species belong to the latter. It is an important fact that no member of the restricted 



