CORVIDJ3. 



CORVID.E. 



162 



Ptilonorhynchut 



Hale, very brilliant blackish-blue. Quill* and tail-feathers dead 

 black. Bill and feet yellow. A double row of silky and velvety 

 bluish-black feathers at the base of the bill. Length 13 inches. The 

 female has the upper parts of an olive-green. The quills and tail- 



Satin-Bird (Kit/a holutericea 



feather* of a red-brown ; wing-coverts varied with brown and a colour 

 inclining to olive ; lwer parts greenish, barred with black. There 

 are whitish horizontal spots, lanceolated, and bordered with black, ou 

 the front of the neck. 

 HAT. UIsT. D1V. vol.. II. 



Mr. Caley says (Vigors and Horsfield, ' Linn. Trans.,' vol. x.v. p. 264) 

 that " the male of this species is reckoned a very scarce bird, and is 

 highly valued. The natives call it Cowry, the colonists Satin-Bird. 

 I have now and then met with a solitary bird of this species ; but I 

 once saw large flocks of them on some newly-sown wheat, from 

 whence they fled on being scared iuto a neighbouring brush. When 

 all was again quiet they soon returned to the wheat. They did not 

 leave the brush above a few yards. There were no black ones among 

 them, nor can I affirm that they were feeding on the wheat." 



Nucifraga. Bill long, thick, with cutting edges terminating in a 

 bluut point, furnished with setaceous feathers at the base, the tipper 

 mandible longer than the lower. Nostrils round, open. Wings 

 pointed ; fourth quill longest. 



Till the publication of Mr. Gould's Nucifraga hemispila (see 'Cen- 

 tury of Birds') but one species was known, namely, that which we 

 select as the example : 



N. Caryocataclft, Brisson, the Nutcracker ; Caryocatactes nucifraga, 

 Nils. ; Corvus Caryocatactet, Liima;us, the Casse-Noix of the French ; 

 the Tannen-Hiiher of the Germans ; the Noddekrige of the Danes ; the 

 Not-Kraake of the Norwegians ; and the Aderyn y Cnau of the 

 Welsh. 



This bird is somewhat less than the Jackdaw. The bill is straight, 

 strong, and black. Head, neck, breast, and body, rusty brown. 

 Crown of the head and rump plain, the other parts marked with 

 triangular white spots. Wings black. Coverts spotted like the body. 

 Tail rounded at the end, black, tipped with white. Legs dusky. 

 Locality, most parts of Europe ; but the Prince of Cauiuo does not 

 notice it in his ' Specchio Comparative.' 



Pyrrhocorax. Bill moderate, compressed, subulate, rather slender, 

 furnished at the base with feathers directed forwards, and at the 

 extremity of the upper mandible with two small teeth which are 

 often wanting. Nostrils basal, ovoid, open, hidden by bristles. Feet 

 robust ; claws strong and recurved. Fourth and fifth quills longest. 



These birds, the Choquards of the French, live in troops like the 

 Jackdaws, which they resemble in their manners. They inhabit the 

 high mountains of Europe, and especially the snowy regions of the 

 Alps. They are omnivorous, feeding on insects, worms, soft fruits, and 

 seeds. They moult once a year, and the sexes are alike externally. 



P. Pyrrhocorax. Brilliant black, but the colour is dull in youth, 

 <tnd the bill and feet are black. In the adult bird the black presents 

 iridescent and changeable tints varying to greenish ; the bill is yel- 

 lowish, and the feet bright red. The female lays four white eggs, 

 spotted with dirty yellow ; the nest is in holes of the rocks. Locality, 

 Alps of Switzerland. The Prince of Canino (' Specchio Comparative ') 

 notes it as rare, and only occurring in the Apennines. 



Pregiltu. Bill longer than the head, slender, entire, arched, pointed. 

 Nostrils covered with feathers directed forwards. 



Lesson is of opinion that this genus ought to be united with the 

 last, from which it only differs in having the bill longer and more 

 curved, which ma<le Cuvier place it in the tribe of Tenuirottres, near 

 the Hoopoes (Upupa). The species have the manners, habits, and 

 general organisation of the crows ; and the European species (selected 

 here as an example) perfectly resembles Pyrrhocorax. (Lesson.) 



P. graculut, Temm. ; Corvui graculut, Linn. The Cornish Chough, 

 or Red-Legged Crow, is considered by Belon, on no bad grounds, to 

 be the Kopcuciar, the Koptavtj <t>oivii<ApvyKos (Red-Billed Crow) of the 

 Greeks and the Pyrrhocorax of the Romans ; Spelvier, Taccola, Pason, 

 Zorl, of the Italians (Belon) ; Choucas aux Pieds et Bee Rouge, Choquar, 

 Choiiette Rouge, of the French (Belon) ; Stein-Tahen and Stein-Frae 

 of the Germans; and Bran Big G6ch of the Welsh. 



Back beautifully glossed with blue and purple. Legs and bill 

 bright orange, inclining to red. Tongue almost as long as the bill, 

 and a little cloven. Claws large, hooked, and black. The Chough 

 builds its nests in high cliffs or ruined towers, and lays four or five 

 eggs, white, spotted with dirtyyellow or light brown and ash colour. 



It is a native of England in Devonshire, Cornwall, and Wales. 

 Pennant says that it is found in different parts of Scotland as far as 

 Straithnaveru, and in some of the Hebrides. He also states that it is 

 found in small numbers on Dover cliff, where they came by accident ; 

 a gentleman in that neighbourhood had a pair seat as a present from 

 Cornwall which escaped and stocked these rocks. They sometimes 

 desert the place for a week or ten days at a time, and repeat it several 

 times in the year. Montagu, speaking of this locality, says, " We 

 believe the breed in those parts is again lost." Latham states that it 

 is also said to frequent the South Downs about Beachy Head and 

 Eastbourn, where it is called the Red-Billed Jackdaw. With regard 

 to its general geographical distribution, Pennant observes that we do 

 not find it in other parts of Europe except England and the Alps. 

 In Asia the island of Candia produces it ; in Africa, Egypt, which 

 last place it visits towards the end of the inundations of the Nile. 

 He quotes Pliny, Brisson, Belon, and Hasselquist, for these statements. 

 The editor of the last edition of Pennant says that the Chough inha- 

 bits the lofty cliffs about the mid region of the highest mountains of 

 Greece, but never the maritime parts, as with us. Scopoli speaks of 

 it in Caruiola, and says that the feet of some during autumn turn 

 ilack. These were probably young birds. 



The Cornish Chough is easily tamed, and may be taught to speak. 

 One in Colonel Montagu's possession would stand quietly for hours to 



