THE CROW TRIBE 1495 



As a rule, the nest is built in a tall and thorny tree, and though it is strongly con- 

 structed, so coarsely made is it, that the eggs can always be seen from below, and 

 sometimes actually fall through the chinks. With a blue ground color, and a 

 chalky incrustation, the eggs are generally six or seven in number, although up- 

 ward of fourteen have been taken from a single nest. 



Distinguished by the arched form of the short bill, which Gould re- 



C ~ ray . . garded as specially adapted to enable the bird to feed upon the seeds 

 Struthidea 



extracted from the cones of a tree found only in the district which it 



inhabits, the gray struthidea (Struthidea cinerea) is confined to the rocky hill 

 ridges of Southern and Eastern Australia. The eggs are four in number, and are 

 white in color, blotched with reddish brown and gray; the nest is of mud, thickly 

 lined with fine grass. The struthidea feeds principally upon insects, chiefly beetles. 

 The two sexes are so nearly identical in size and color that they can only be dis- 

 tinguished by dissection. This species differs from many other Australian birds by 

 reason of the sober color of its dress, which is inconspicuous and little likely to 

 attract attention. The general color both above and below is gray, each feather 

 being tipped with lighter gray; while the wings are brown, and the tail is glossy 

 black, with a greenish lustre on the outer webs of its feathers. 



p . . c This small genus, Gymnorhina , includes only three species, popu- 



larly known as Australian magpies by reason of their black and white 

 plumage, which is common to both sexes, and never varies. 



The best-known member of this genus is the black-backed piping crow (G. 

 tibicen), which is universally distributed over New South Wales; the white-backed 

 piping crow (G. leuconota] being restricted to the southern and western parts of the 

 Australian continent, and very abundant in Southern Australia. A third species 

 (G. organica], known to the colonists as the organ bird is peculiar to Tasmania, and 

 wi.'l pour forth from the branch of some dead tree a succession of the strangest 

 notes that can be imagined, much resembling the sound of a hand organ out of 

 tune; it is very easily tamed, and can be taught to whistle various tunes as well as 

 to articulate words. 



The black-backed species, which is the one given in our illustration, is 

 bold and showy, enlivening and ornamenting the lawns and gardens of the 

 colonists by its presence, and with the slightest protection from molestation 

 hecoming so tame and familiar that it approaches close to their dwellings and 

 perches around them and the stock-yards in small families of from six to ten in 

 number. Gould states that it prefers cleared lands, or open plains skirted by belts 

 of timber; hence the interior of the country is more favorable to it than the 

 neighborhood of the coast. Its lively and intelligent habits and fine vocal powers 

 .render it a favorite cage bird both at home and abroad. The crown, back, and 

 tinder parts are black; and the nape, wing coverts, and upper and under tail coverts 

 white. Insectivorous in their habits, the piping crows live chiefly on grasshoppers, 

 of which they consume an enormous quantity. The breeding season commences in 

 August and lasts till January, during which period each pair of birds nests twice. 

 The round and open nest is formed of twigs and leaves, with a softer lining; the 

 three or four eggs are of a bluish-white ground color, which may often have a 



