NATURAL HISTORY OF THE BIRDS OF AFRICA. 



TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH OF LE VAILLANT. 



j 



THE CROW MAGPIE (Pica Ventralis, CUVIER). 



La Pie a Culotte de Peau, Le VailL Ois. ii. p. 20, pi. 55 ; Corvus rufigaster, 

 Lath- Ind. Urn. Sup. xxvi. ; Shatv, Zool. vii. 377; Corvus octopennatus, 

 Daud. ii. 243 ; Rufous-bellied Crow, Lath. Gen. Syn. Sup. ii. 118; Id. 

 Gen. Hist. iii. 40. 



As the manners of this bird, which is entirely new to us, are un- 

 known, I place it by the side of the African magpie, a species which, 

 in my opinion, it most closely resembles in the form of its bill and 

 wedge-shaped tail. As its bill, however, is more feeble than that of the 

 magpies, it appears to belong rather to another genus of birds, whose 

 species are exceedingly numerous in Africa, and have been generally 



VOL. i. NO. xi. (NOVEMBER, 1833.) N N 



