62 REPORT ON ZOOLOGY, MDCCCXLIII. 



PASSERINE. 



CORVIN/E. The opinion which has of late become pretty 

 general, that the Rook, (Rabenkrahe) (Corvus corone], and 

 the Gray Crow (Nebelkrahe) (Corvus comix), are only varieties 

 of one and the same species, begins already to appear 

 scarcely tenable ; it is at all events certain that their dif- 

 ference of colour cannot be attributed to climatic in- 

 fluences (the greater and less temperature). 



According to Gloger, the black Crow belongs principally to the South, and 

 the gray to the North. This is so far correct, that in France and Bavaria, 

 the gray Crow is seen only in winter ; and there, as for instance around 

 Munich, in many winters very rarely. On the other hand, Gloger declares 

 that it is something remarkable that the gray Crow occurs even in Tuscany, 

 Dalmatia, Sardinia, &c. much more frequently than the black, or even exclu- 

 sively ; it is also said to occur in some of the Greek Islands. This fact 

 has of late received further confirmation. Lindermayer, indeed, mentions 

 the gray Crow only as a winter Bird, but in this he is completely contradicted 

 by Count v. Mulile, who says on this point, " it occurs throughout the year 

 in Greece, especially in the neighbourhood of Lamia, Patras, and around 

 Athens ; and what is remarkable, only in company with black Crows, such as 

 C. coroHe" although the latter is also frequent. Malherbe did not observe the 

 black Crow in Sicily any more than Bcnoit had done; for its occurrence he refers 

 only to Galvagni, who mentions it in his 'Fauna of JEtna.' The gray Crow, 

 on the contrary, according to Malherbe, exists in Sicily in great abundance. In 

 like manner, Drummond had never seen the black Crow in Corfu, whilst the 

 gray Crow occurs there occasionally, and in Albania very frequently, where it 

 even breeds. In Candia also, he mentions only the gray Crow, which is very 

 abundant, and breeds in that island. Landbek informs us, in the 'Isis' (1812, 

 p. 185), that in Hungary and Siebenburgeii the gray Crow is plentiful, and 

 the black very rarely met with. The Reporter would take this opportunity 

 of noticing, that the Berlin collection possesses a specimen of the gray Crow 

 from Cairo, furnished from the Travels of v. Schubert ; Ruppell also notices 

 only this form among the Birds of Abyssinia, and never the black. These 

 accounts suffice to show that the gray and black Crow are not distinguished by 

 their occurring, respectively, in the North and South, but that they occur 

 partly intermixed, partly separate from each other, as it were alternately. 



This curious mode of distribution would rather favour the opinion of llmv 

 being a specific distinction between the gray and black Crow ; at all events it 



