40 GARDEN AND AVIARY BIRDS. 
tail, however, is a little shorter than the Crow’s and as 
different as possible from a real Magpie’s lengthened 
appendage. The bill of the Piping-Crow is stout at the 
root, but rapidly tapers to the hooked tip, which is dark ; 
the rest of the bill is of a peculiar bluish white, with no 
bristles at the root as in a true Crow. Except for this 
peculiar beak, which much resembles that of the Austra- 
han Butcher-birds—birds which anyone could at once 
see to be Shrikes—the Piping-Crow is much more Crow 
than Shrike to look at, having a Crow’s long legs and 
power of running actively about on the ground. The 
markings of the plumage are very peculiar, and unlike 
those of any other bird. The head, feet, all the under- 
parts and the flanks, are black; so also are the wings, 
but they bear a white patch; the tail is white with a 
black tip, and there is a white patch covering the back 
of the neck. The space between neck and tail may be 
either black, white, or grey, the black-backed birds com- 
ing from one part of Australia, and the light-backed 
from another ; but it is doubtful whether they are really 
distinct species, and for all practical purposes they may 
be reckoned as one. Male and female are alike, but 
young birds are thickly mottled with drab underneath, 
and in buying a bird which it is intended to teach and 
make a pet of, this drab mottling as a sign of youth, must 
be looked out for. An old bird, however, will be found to 
have a most beautiful whistle of its own, rich and varied, 
which alone makes the species worth keeping, to say 
nothing of its being a handsome bird and possessed of 
much character. A young bird which has been properly 
