CHAPTER XX. 



The Perching Birds. 



It is not an easy matter to define, for the general reader, what is* 

 known amongst ornithologists as a perching bird, for to do so would 

 mean entering into a general discussion upon the whole class Aves. 

 The order Passeres includes all the songsters and most of the brilliantly 

 hued birds so dear to the heart of the bird fancier. They commence 

 with the crows, and, in this country at least, end with the martins and 

 swallows. In fact this order is by far the greatest, containing, as it 

 does, well over thirty families represented by innumerable sub-families, 

 genera and species. Thrushes, finches, larks, starlings. Birds of Para- 

 dise, wagtails, butcher birds, tits, wrens and even such peculiar birds as 

 the South American bell-bird and the cock-of-the-rock belong to this 

 great group. 



In China the order is well represented, nearly half the known 

 species of birds belonging to it. 



There are some fourteen members of the crow family (Corvidae). 

 The largest of these is the raven (Corvus corax), which is only common 

 in the more desolate regions along the Mongolian Frontier. Here it 

 lives largely upon the dead bodies of the Mongols, thrown out from the 

 camps. On this account the Chinese name for it in these parts is 

 "Mung-ku kuan tsai," (The Mongol's coffin). Next in size is the 

 carrion crow (C. corone orientalis). This bird is very handsome, being 

 of a shiny black, with neat plumage, and having a comparatively small 

 bill. The Chinese jungle crow (C. hvaUanti), with its enormous thick 

 bill might easily be mistaken for the raven, were it not for its small 

 size, which is about that of the rook. It is common in Shansi, being 

 particularly abundant in some places. A crow that is less common in 

 the mountains, but which occurs fairly plentifully on the plains is the 

 white-necked crow (C. torquatxts). As the name suggests this bird differs 

 from all the foregoing in having a broad white collar. It also has a 

 heavy bill, but is not so large as the raven. 



