CORVUS, CROW. 497 



others, according as the general aspect, the hill, the feet, or the 

 plumage, are made objects of comparison. The Jays connect 

 the Crows with the Titmice, which, however, are so small 

 that the affinity is not readily perceived. The Nutcracker 

 allies them to the Starlings, which in one direction approach 

 the Larks ; and the Fregili to iTjDupa, Promerops, and other 

 allied genera. Some authors, among the rest Cuvier^ consider 

 the Crows as intimately connected with the Conirostral genera, 

 such as Fringilla, Loxia, and Emberiza ; but they are cer- 

 tainly much more closely allied to the Thrushes and other 

 genera, having the bill of a more slender compressed form than 

 the granivorous birds. It is very obvious, however, that in 

 the arrangement of the species of land birds, excluding the 

 Rapacious, the Gallinaceous, the Psittaceous, and a few other 

 groups, no two persons could possibly agree, if acting sepa- 

 rately, and trusting to their own judgment ; and therefore my 

 purpose is rather to present an intelligible account of our dif- 

 ferent species, than to enter much into critical disquisitions 

 respecting the value and affinities of genera. 



Five species of the genus Corvus occur in Britain : — the 

 Raven, the Carrion Crow, the Hooded Crow, the Rook, and 

 the Jackdaw. They are all permanently resident. The Mag- 

 pie differs so much from the rest in the elongation of the tail, 

 the comparative shortness of the wings, and some other cir- 

 cumstances, that several writers have referred it to a separate 

 genus ; but the bill, the feet, and the organs in general, are so 

 similar, that there would be little reason for setting it apart, 

 were there not other species having more dissimilar features. 

 Each species differs greatly in many of its habits, so that I am 

 unable, from my own observation, to arrive at more general 

 conclusions than those given above. In fact, every species in 

 existence has peculiarities both in habits and structure, which 

 render extended generic characters, applicable to all the beings 

 in an assumed group, impossible. 



