A'/^S7S AXD ECGS OF AVSTK.MIAN BIKDS. z^y 



White-eyed CVows or Ravens in conlincinent, kindly sent me the following 

 interesting communication : — " As a pet bird I regard our White-eyed Crow 

 as the most interesting and entertaining of all. He is possessed of keen 

 intelligence, is easily domesticated, and affectionate. Veritably he is the 

 ■ nigger minstrel of bird-life, not only in his shining black dress, but in 

 liis droll attitudes, unUmited ' patter, and the facility with which he shows 

 the ' whites ' of his eyes. 



" One old favourite, bearing the name of ' Corbeau,' which I had for 

 many years, was a past-master. In the early summer mornings, after a 

 hearty meal and his morning bath (in respect of which he was very 

 punctilious), he would commence his buffooneries. His actions, gestures, 

 and voice were indescribably comical. 



' Stretching out his neck horizontally to its utmost length, and erecting 

 neck and head feathers, he would cause his uncanny white eyes to assume 

 the most imbecile expression, at the same time uttering a long-sustained 

 ' ka-a-a,' commencing in a deep sonorous key and ending in a piping, 

 tremulous treble. With suddenness he would thi'ow liimself on his back, 

 and whilst in that position and with his claws in motion would fight an 

 imaginary foe, at the same time changing his notes to one of anger and 

 defiance. Pose after pose and antic after antic followed. These perfor- 

 mances would last an hour without intermission, two brothers in captivity 

 perched high stohdly watching without attempting to join in. They seemed 

 to consider it to be their duty to play the part of spectatoi-s, while 

 ' Corbeau ' acted as entertainer. ' Corbeau's ' end was untimely, he being 

 found one morning with his head fixed in and hanging from the mesh 

 I'overing the roof of his house. 



" When he was first brought to nic (not much more than a fledgeling) 

 liis eyes were ' loyal brown in colour, hut on his entering his second j-ear 

 they changed to china-white, an evidence, I should think, of his attaining 

 adolescence. 



" People cont€mptuousl5' and slanderously speak of the Wliite-eyed 

 Crow as the Carrion Crow. If he feed on carrion it can only be under 

 stress of circumstances. In capti\ity he exliibits a decided liking for 

 figs, apples, pears, tomatoes, &c., as also the pink berries of the pepper- 

 tree. He eats meat readily, but it must be fresh ; in summer-time he will 

 be inclined to leave it for fniit. 



" In the mid state, the ^^^lite-eyed Crow evidently believes in a varied 

 diet. Last Easter, whilst on a visit to Snake Island and the Port Albert 

 channels and Comer Inlet, I saw scores of White-eyed Crows consorting 

 with the Oyster Catchers, Sea Curlews, and Sandpipers, and feeding on 

 the marine life left on the sandy shallows and mud-banks." 



Under the heading, " A Crow Camp," the following note, wiitten by 

 Mr. Albert Le Souef, appeared in The Au^traln^ian, 6th Jiuie, 1896: — 

 " Many years ago I was travelUng with a blackfcllow across the Snowj- 

 Movmtains or Australian Alps on my way from a cattle-st-ation I then 

 owned near Twofold Bay to Victoria. It may not be generally known 

 that on the top of the mountains there is an extensive table-land ca- 

 rolling downs, covered with thick grass, and watered by beautiful pebbly 

 creeks, the heads of the several rivers which water the low country, the 



