104 THE WORLD'S BIRDS. 



(C. americanus) and the Raven (C. cor ax) of both 

 hemispheres. The Crow of Austraha (C. australis) 

 is also all black, but with white eyes. The common 

 species of Africa (C scapulatus) has a broad white 

 collar, and the Indian House-crow (C. splendens) 

 a grey neck. This last is a very glossy species, and of 

 rather small size, like the Jackdaw of Europe and North 

 Asia (C. monedula), which has also a grey neck, but a 

 short beak and white eyes. The Hooded Crow (C. 

 comix), widely spread in the Old World, has the head, 

 wings and tail alone black, the body grey. Rooks 

 (Trypanocorax) have the face bare. 



Of the Magpies, with long graduated tail and short 

 wings, our common species {Pica pica) ranges all round 

 the Northern Hemisphere ; the Common Indian Pie 

 (Dendrocitta rufa) belongs to a more arboreal group and 

 is cinnamon, with smoky-grey head and silver-grey and 

 black wings and tail. The Blue Pies (Urocissa) are 

 mountain-haunting Asiatic species, with very long 

 tails, blue plumage and red bills. 



The Jays comprise species with short wings and 

 medium tail, our own well-known Jay {Gamdus 

 glandarius) ranging to Persia, and replaced by very 

 similar forms as far as Japan. The North American 

 Blue- jay {Cyanocorax cristatus) is a much more familiar 

 bird than our species is here ; and the Whisky- jack 

 {Pensoreus canadensis), a plain grey bird, about as big 

 as a blackbird, is well known in Canada. 



Drongos {Dicrurince) are much like the typical stout - 

 billed Shrikes, but differ in their forked tails, plumage 

 generally glossy black throughout (rarely grey) and in 

 only having ten tail-feathers, whereas twelve is the 

 usual number in Passerine birds. They watch for 

 insect food from a perch, seldom hopping about. They 

 are found almost throughout warm regions in the Old 

 World, and make themselves conspicuous by their 

 attacks on other birds, often in defence of their open 



