484 SYSTEMATIC SYXOPSIS. —PASSERES— OSCINES. 



X 0.82, thence runniug up to 1.43 X 0.84, and down to 1.06 X 0.76; and to be only :3-5 in 

 number. {Q. haritus Bd. 1858, nee auct. Q. aglcBus Bd. 1866. Q. purpureus aglceus Coues, 

 1872, and all other eds. of the Key; Q. qitiscitla aglceus, A. 0. U. Lists, No. 511 a.) 



Family CORVID^ : Crows, Jays, Pies, etc. 



CuUrirostral Oscines ivith 10 ^jruHrtries. — A rather hirge and important family, compris- 

 ing such familiar birds as Eavens, Crows, Eooks, Jackdaws, Magpies, Jays, Choughs, with 

 their allies, and a few diverging forms not so well known ; nearly related to the famous 

 Birds of Paradise {Paradiseidce), to the Old World Oricdes (Oriolidce), and to the Old World 

 Starlings (Sturnidce). There are 10 primaries, of which 1st is short, generally about half 

 as long as 2d, and several outer ones are more or less sinuate-attenuate on inner web toward 

 end. The tail has 12 rectrices, as usual among higher birds ; it varies much in shape, but is 

 generally rounded — sometimes extremely graduated, as in the Magpie; and is not forked in 

 any of our forms. The tarsus has scutella in front, separated on one or both sides from rest 

 of tarsal envelope by a groove, sometimes naked, sometimes filled in by small scales. The 

 bill is stout, about as long as head or shorter, tapering, rather acute, generally unnotched, 

 with convex culmen ; it lacks the commissural angulation of Fringillidce and Icteridee, the 

 deep cleavage of Hirundinidee, the slenderness of Certldidce, Sittida, and most small insectivo- 

 rous birds. The rictus usually has a few stiffish bristles, and there are others about base of 

 bill. The gonys is rather short, i. c, the matidibular rami usually unite in advance of a per- 

 pendicular line let down from the nostrils; and these are normally placed high up, near 

 the culmen (they are lower in the Choughs, Fregilince). An essential character is seen in 

 dense covering of nostrils with large long tufts of close-pressed antrorse bristly feathers (ex- 

 cepting, among our forms, in Cyunocepliahis and Psilorhinus). These last features (in con- 

 nection with the presence of 10 primaries) distinguish Corvida from all our other birds 

 excepting Paridce ; the mutual resemblance is here so close, that I cannot point out any 

 obvious technical character of external form to distinguish, for example, Cyanocitta from io- 

 phophanes, or Perisoreus from Parus. But as already remarked, size is here jierfectly dis- 

 tinctive, all Corvidce being much larger than any Paridte. 



Although technically Oscine, Corvidce are non-melodious ; their vocal organs are well 

 developed, but none of them can sing. This shows that musical ability depends upon some- 

 thing more than mere complexity of the syrinx or sound-making apparatus. The voice of 

 the larger corvine birds is hoarse and raucous, that of the smaller garruline ones harsh and 

 strident — hear the ominous croak of the Raven, the cacophony of the Crow's cawing, the 

 shrill scream of the Jay. 



Owing to uniformity of color in leading groups of the family, and an apparent plas- 

 ticity of organization in many forms, the number of species is difficult to determine, and is 

 very variously estimated by difl'erent writers. Mr. G. R. Gray admits upward of 200, which 

 he distributes in 50 genera and subgenera ; but these figures are certainly excessive. Dr. 

 R. B. Sharpe, in the Brit. Mus. Catalogue of 1877, describes about 160 species or subspecies, 

 arranged in 43 genera, with 4 genera under a subfiimily Fregilince, all the rest under Cor- 

 vince. Corvidce have also been divided into 5 subfamilies ; 3 of these are small specialized 

 groups confined to the Old World, where they are represented most largely in the Australian 

 and Indian regions ; the other two, constituting the great bulk of the family, are more nearly 

 cosmopolitan. These are Corvince and Garridince, or Crows and Jays, readily distinguish- 

 able, at least so far as our forms are concerned, by the longer pointed wings and shorter, less 

 rounded tail of the former, as contrasted with the shorter, rounded wings and longer, more 

 rounded or graduated tail of the latter. This is the subdivision of the family which I have 

 kept in all the eds. of the Key, and the one followed by the A. 0. U. 



