CORCORAX. 21 



Sub-Family FREGELIN^. 



<3-en.-u.s COiSOOI2-<f^2^, A^'ssok, 



Corcorax melanorhamphus. 



WHITE-WINGED CHOUGH. 



Goracias nielanorhamphos, Vieill., Nouv, Diet. d'Hi.st. Nat., torn. VIII., p. 2. 



Corcorax leHcopierus, Gould, Bds. Austr., fol., Vol. IV., pi. IG (1848). 



Corcorax melanorhamphus, Gould, Handbk. Bds. Austr., Vol. I., p. 470 (18G5); Sharpe, Cat. Bds. 

 Brit. Mus., Vol. III., p. 149 (1877). 



Adult iM.vle — General colour sooty-hlack, slightly ylossed ivifh green on lite upper parts ; inner 

 webs of the primaries, except at the base and tips, white; bill and legs black : iris scarlet. Total 

 length in tlie flesh 18 inches, tving 9'o, tail 9, bill IJ , tarsus ~".'7. 



Adult feji.ale — Similar to the male in plumage. 



Distribution. — Queensland, New South Wales, \'ictoria, South .Vustralia. 



/"I^IIIS species, which shares with Stnpera gracuUna the local name of ''Black Magpie," is, 

 -L in favorable situations, freely distributed throughout the greater portion of eastern 

 and south-eastern Australia. It evinces a decided preference for open forest and table-lands, 

 and is occasionally met with in clumps of timber on the plains. I found it very abundant in 

 the neighbourhood of the Macquarie River, nio\ing about in small flocks of from five to ten in 

 number, and passing most of its time on the ground. When disturbed by too close an approach, 

 they would fly away, at the same time uttering harsh grating cries of alarm. Their actions in the 

 trees are very similar to those of Struthidea cinerea, and Pomatostomus temporalis, hopping quickly 

 from limb to limb, and spreading and rapidly elevating their tails in a curious manner. The 

 usual call-note is a low mournful kind of whistle, but it can be heard for a considerable 

 distance. 



The food of the White-winged Chough is extremely varied. In spring and summer it con- 

 sists chiefly of insects and their larva;; the bird also ventures into orchards and gardens to feed 

 on the softer kinds of cultivated fruits. Wattle and thistle seeds are eaten in the autumn, and 

 about arable lands hungry troops of these birds descend on the newly-sown wheat-fields to pick 

 up the grain. It is also troublesome in vineyards at vintage-time. At the homestead on 

 Yandembah Station, a flock of six used to li\-e in the trees around the house, and would come 

 to be fed regularly e\ery day in winter with the fowds; and on one occasion the late Mr. K. H. 

 Bennett observed them wading thigh-deep in a muddy pool and busily engaged in capturing 

 and eating tadpoles, with which the water was teeming. Mr. A. M. N. Rose informs me that 

 he kept several of these birds in confinement, and for a period of six weeks he fed them only 

 on grain. 



The nest is a large and very conspicuous bowl-shaped structure, outwardly formed of 

 pellets of mud, mixed with bits of short dried grass, and lined inside with opossum fur, dried 

 grasses, strips of bark, or sheep's w^ool. Several birds assist in the construction of each nest, 

 and frequently three or more may be observed busily engaged at the same time on one nest. 

 An average nest measures externally nine inches in diameter by six inches in depth ; but one I 

 saw taken in the Riverina District, resembling a small wash-hand basin, was unusually large, 

 and measured twelve and a half inches in diameter by eight inches in depth. Usually they 

 are built on a horizontal branch, sometimes at the junction of three or more upright branches, 

 and occasionally inside the deserted nest of Corone australis. It is remarkable that the latter 

 site is ever selected, as the Raven is alwavs on the alert to rob the White-winged Chough of its 



