AVES. 353 



plumage is shiny black, and it has a very peculiar and elegant crest 

 rising from the top of the head and spreading somewhat like an umbrella. 



The other species of this group are the bald-headed crows, which have 

 the part indicated by the name entirely naked. Their habits appear to be 

 much like those of the common American or European species. 



Sub-fam. 6. Pyrrhocoracince, or Choughs. Bill long, slender, and 

 curved ; wings lengthened, pointed ; tail long ; tarsi and feet rather short 

 and strong. Size moderate ; color black. 



This sub-family contains four species only, of which the chough of 

 Europe {Pyrrhocorax alpinus) is found in the mountains of that continent, 

 where in the summer it lives in the regions approaching the greatest 

 altitude, but in the winter descends to the lower countries. Its food con- 

 sists of insects, worms, and seeds. It is said to breed in the remote 

 recesses of the mountains, and to construct its nest in the fissure of a rock. 



The red-legged chough {Coracia gracula) is another European species 

 vfery similar to the last. 



There is no representative of these birds yet discovered in America ; the 

 two other birds of this sub-family are natives of Africa and Australia. 



Fam. 2. Sturnid^, or Starlings. Bill more or less long, compressed, 

 often with an angle near the base of both mandibles ; wings generally long 

 and pointed ; tail generally long ; tarsi and feet more or less robust ; claws 

 frequently well developed. Size small. 



An extensive family, containing all the birds known as grakles, starlings, 

 hanging birds, troopials, and many others. Very many of the species are 

 exceedingly gregarious and appear in vast flocks, of which those of North 

 America, known as blackbirds, are familiar illustrations. 



Sub-fam. 1. Ptilonorhynchince, or Glossy Starlings. Bill moderate, 

 strong, compressed ; wings moderate, pointed ; tail various, frequently 

 long ; tarsi strong, with scales ; toes rather long and robust. Size moderate. 



The splendid starlings or shining thrushes, as they were formerly called, 

 of Africa are arranged hei'e. Twenty-five species are known, nearly all of 

 which are remarkable for the brilliant metallic tmts of their plumage, 

 which is frequently dark. Ptilonorhynchus nitens and P. chrysotis are 

 common in collections brought from Liberia and Sierra Leone. These 

 birds inhabit the entire continent of Africa, and partake of the general 

 characters of the American blackbirds, by which name they are known to 

 the colonists. 



Several similar Australian and Indian genera are classed here. 



Sub-fam. 2. GracuUncB, or Grakles. Bill long, strong, broad at base, 

 compressed to the tip ; wings long ; tail short, sometimes moderate ; tarsi 

 rather short, robust ; toes rather long, strongly scaled. Size small. 



This sub-family does not comprise the birds known in the United States 

 as grakles, but is restricted to some five or six species of Asia and it& 

 islands. 



The mino bird {Gracula religiosa) is best known. It is a native o-f 

 India, and possesses considerable powers of song. It is a heavy-formed 

 bird, of black plumage, with very singular appendages on the sides of its 



557 



