276 AVES. 



Manorhina, Vieill. 



The beak much compressed, but little arcuated, and slightly- 

 sloped; large nostrils, almost entirely closed by a membrane, which 

 reduces the opening to a narrow slit; the neck is short. The feathers 

 on the forehead, which are as soft as those of young birds, incline 

 partly over the nostrils. (l) 



Pyrrhocorax, Cuv.(2) 



The compressed, arcuated, and sloped beak of the Thrushes; but 

 their nostrils are covered with feathers, as in the Crows, to which 

 they were for a long time united. There is one in Europe about the 

 s'lzt o? Ihe Corv. monedida. 



Corvus pyrrhocorax, L.: Chocard des Mpes, Enl. 531; Vieill. 

 Galer. 106; Naum. 57, 1. All black; the beak yellow; feet, 

 brown at first, then yellow and red in the adult; builds in rocky 

 fissures of the highest mountains, whence, in the winter, it de- 

 scends into the valleys in large flocks. It feeds on insects, snails, 

 grain, and fruit, and does not despise carrion. 

 There is another in India, 



Pyrr. hexanemits, Cuv.; the Sicrin, Vaill. Afr. pi. Ixxxii. 

 Distinguished by three barbless stalks as long as the body, which 

 grow on each side among the feathers which cover the ear. 

 I can find no character sufficient to warrant removing from the 

 Thrushes 



Oriolus, Lin. 



Or the Orioles, whose beak, similar to that of the Thrushes, is 

 merely a little stronger; the feet a little shorter, and the wings a little 

 longer, in proportion. Linnaeus, and most of his followers., impro- 

 perly united Cassici with them, to which they have no other resem- 

 blance than that of colours. 



O. galbula, L. ; Le loriot d' Europe, Enl. 26; Golden Thrush, 

 Yellow Thrush of the Germans, &c. Somewhat larger than the 

 Thrush. The male is of a fine yellow; wings, tail, and a spot 

 between the eye and the beak, black; tip of the tail yellow. 

 During its two first years, however, the yellow is replaced by 

 an olive, and the black by a brown, which is always the case 

 with the female. This bird suspends its skilfully wrought nest 

 to branches of trees, feeds on cherries and other fruits, and in 

 the spring on insects. It is very shy, remains in France but a 

 little time during the summer, and travels in pairs, or by threes. 



(1) Manorhina viridis, Vieill. Gal. 149,- Merops albifrcms, Shaw ? 



(2) yieill. has adopted this name and genus. 



