102 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, 1890. 



660.— THE INDIAN CORBY. 

 Corms macrorhynchus, Wagl. 



The Indian or Bow-billed Corby is more or less abundant through- 

 out the Presidency, with the exception of Sind, where it does not 

 occur. 



It is somewhat irregularly distributed, being apparently absent 

 from some localities, in every way suited to it, and which are 

 colonized exclusively by the Ashy-necked Crow (Corvus splendens), 

 while in adjacent ones, the Corbies are the most numerous ; in 

 others again, both species are equally common. 



They are permanent residents where they occur, breeding early in 

 the year, commencing their nests in February, and by the middle of 

 March their nesting operations are in full swing, all their eggs 

 being as a rule hatched out long before the Common Crow begins to 

 think of building. 



The nest is of the usual corvine type, composed of sticks and stout 

 twigs lined with hair, vegetable fibre, tow, &c, and is always placed 

 in a tree. 



The eggs, four or five in number, are moderately broad oval in 

 shape, pinched in a little at one end, but both spherical and elongated 

 varieties are not uncommon. 



They vary a great deal in size, but the average of a large series 

 was 173 inches in length by about 1*19 in breadth. In colour they 

 are greenish-blue or dull sap-green, much spotted, streaked, blotched 

 and smudged with sepia, blackish and olive-brown. 



663.— THE COMMON INDIAN CROW. 

 Corvus splendens, Vieill. 



The Common Indian or Ashy-necked Crow occurs abundantly 

 throughout Western India, except on the higher ranges, where as 

 a rule the Corby alone occurs. They breed from about the middle 

 of May to about the end of June, making a ragged stick nest, lined 

 with roots, &c, which is placed in a fork in a tree ; the eggs, four 

 or five in number, rarely six, are rather smaller than those of the 

 preceding, which they greatly resemble, both in shape and colour. 

 They are subject to much variation. It is in the nest of this bird, 

 that the Koel {Eudynamys honorata) almost always deposits its eggs. 



