308 AVES. 



ter, except when very young, is divested of feathers, which is 

 probably occasioned by its habit of thrusting it into the ground 

 in search of food. 



These two species live in large flocks, numbers of them build- 

 ing together. They feed as much on grain as on insects, and 

 are found throughout all Europe; remaining in the winter, how- 

 ever, only in the warmer districts. 



C. comix, L. ; Corneille mantelee; Enl. 76; Naum. 54. (The 

 Royston Crow.) Cinereous; head, wings, and tail, black. It is less 

 frugivorous, frequents the sea-shore, and feeds upon shell-fish, 

 &c. Nauman assures us that it often couples with the Black Crow. 



C. monedida,L..; Le Choucas, Sec; Enl. 525; Naum. 56, 1. (The 

 Jackdaw.) A fourth smaller than the preceding ones; about the 

 size of a Pigeon; of a less intense black, which around the neck 

 and under the belly, even verges on cinereous; sometimes all 

 black. It builds in steeples, old towers. Sec, lives in flocks, 

 feeds on the same substances as the Crows, and is frequently 

 found with them. Birds of prey have no enemy more vigilant 

 than the Jackdaw.(l) 



Pica, Cuv. 



The Pies are less than the Cornix; the upper mandible is also 

 more arcuated than the other, and the tail long and cuneiform. 



Corvus pica, L.; Enl. 488; Naum. 56, 2. (The Magpie of 

 Europe.) A beautiful bird, of a silky black colour, with purple, 

 blue, and gold reflections; the belly is white, and there is a large 

 spot of the same colour on the wing. Its eternal chattering has 

 rendered it notorious. It prefers living in inhabited places, 

 where it feeds on all sorts of matters, sometimes attacking the 

 smaller birds of the poultry-yards.(2) 



(1) The Jackdaw terminates the tribes of the true Crows, because its upper 

 mandible is hardly more arcuated than the lower one. Add to this tribe the Cor- 

 vus jamaicensis, or Corneille a duvet llanc,- Le C. daurims, Enl. 327; tlie C. scap- 

 ulatus, Daud. Valll. 53, whicli M. Temm. thinks differs from the preceding; the 

 albicollis, Lath, or Corbivau, which, from its high, compressed, trenchant- 

 backed beak, might constitute a separate subgenus, Vaill. 50; the C. splendens 

 of India, Vieill. Col. 425, remarkable for the instinct which prompts it to search 

 for lice among the feathers of the Vulture, (the Chagoun) wlio willingly permits it; 

 The C. columbianus, "Wils. Ill, xx, fig. 2; the C. nasicus, Tem. Col. 413; the 

 C. ossifragus, Wile. V, xxxviii, f. 2, if it really differ from the comix. 



l2) Add the Corvus senegalensis, Enl. 538; C.ventralis, Sh.; Vaill. Afr. 58; C. 

 erythrorhynchos, Enl. 622, and better Vaill. Afr. 57; C. cayanus, Enl. 378; C. 

 peruvianus, Enl. 625; C. cyaneus, Pall. Vaill. Afr. 58, 2; C. rufus, Vaill. Afr. 

 59; the Jlcahe, A.zz. {Corvus pileatus, Hlig. ) Col. 58, or Fica chrysops, Vieill. Gal. 

 101; the G. gubernatrix, Tem. Col 436; the Corv. azureus, T. Col, 168; 

 the Piegeng. [C. cyanopogon, P. Max.) Col. 169. 



