SKETCHES OF EUROPEAN ORNITHOLOGY. 271 



It, — Wendehals, G. The male and female of this elegant species, 

 one of the earliest of our summer- visitants, and the constant precur- 

 sor of the joyous and welcome Cuckoo, are here represented with 

 extraordinary spirit and effect. The female is seen emerging from 

 the hollow of a tree, in which she may be supposed to have depo- 

 sited her pure-white eggs. The only defect of the figures is, that 

 they are considerably larger than natural. The principal food of 

 this interesting bird — hence frequently termed the Emmet Wryneck 

 — is the ant and its larva ; which are seized, with great velocity 

 and unerring aim, by the protrusion of its long and extensile 

 tongue. It is nearly allied, in structure and habits, to the Wood- 

 pecker genus. 



Plate IX.- — The IMagpie, — Pica caudata (Corvus Pica, of Lin- 

 nsBus, — Pica melanoleuca, of later ornithologists), — la Pie, Fr., — 

 Gazzera commune. It., — Gartengrahe, G. Of this most beautiful 

 of all the family of the British, or even European, Corvidce, we 

 have yet met with but one delineation, whether graven or drawn, 

 true to the life. Turn, gentle reader, to the ninety-second page of 

 the first volume of good old Bewick ; and there you will behold the 

 bold, impudent, and mischievous Pie, with tail erect, in all his 

 glory. The representations of the bird by Lewin, Donovan, and 

 Selby, are perfect failures. In the forlorn, sombre, sedate, and me- 

 lancholy figure of Werner, we recognize, only by the aid of the 

 appended type, the sprightly friend and associate of our school- boy 

 days. Nor even with the Magpie of Mr. Gould, powerfully and 

 splendidly coloured as it is, are we quite satisfied. The attitude of 

 the bird is not natural ; and there is some striking defect, more 

 readily to be appreciated than particularized, in the form and co- 

 louring of the head. The expression of the bold, and bright, and 

 wicked eye is, however, admirably given. Pica, although clearly 

 distinguished by the illustrious Ray, having only of late been for- 

 mally severed from the Corvus genus, we here present a sketch of 

 the generic characters, as traced by Selby and Gould . Beak strong, 

 compressed laterally, slightly arched, and hooked at the tip. Nos~ 

 trils basal, open, protected by a covering of bristly feathers directed 

 forwards. Feet with three toes before and one behind, entirely 

 divided. Tarsus longer than the middle toe. Wings rounded. 



