426 PASSEKINE BIRDS. 



The Finches {FringiUa) are too well known to re- 

 quire description. They form an extensive genus, 

 embracing the Weavers, the Linnets, the Goldfinches, 

 the Chaffinches, the Canary, the Bullfinch, and other 

 cage birds. 



The Crows (Corvus) have a large beak, straight at the base, 

 curved towards the point, and cutting at the edges ; their nostrils are 

 concealed by long hairs directed forwards ; their toes are entirely- 

 divided, and their wings appear clipped at their extremities. Tliey 

 live in troops, and are cunning and distrustful ; they readily become 

 familiar, and some of them may be taught to speak with consider- 

 able facility. The senses of these birds are very acute, more par- 

 ticularly that of smell ; they have the habit of stealing and conceal- 

 ing everything they find, even articles that are useless to them, 

 such as spoons and pieces of money. They lay up provision for the 

 future season, and feed on every kind of aliment, grains, fruits, insects, 

 and worms, and living or dead flesh, so that they well deserve the 



Fig. 353.— carrion crow. 



name of Omnivorous. The Raven, the Jackdaw, the Magpie, and 

 the Jay, all belong to the same family. 



The Birds of Paradise (Paradisma). These birds resemble Crows 

 in everything but their plumage, which is perhaps the most sumptuous 

 bestowed upon tlie feathered creation. They are all of them 

 indigenous to New Guinea and the neighbouring islands. Their 

 history was for a long while a tissue of fable and absurdity. The 

 female it was asserted laid her eggs while flying, and had no legs ; 



