168 Sir W. Jardine on the Habits of Crotophaga. 



feed upon tadpoles^ and may be descried, if the grass be not 

 too long, huddled together in a flock of from twenty to thirty, 

 and so close as to resemble an old coat or cloak at a little di- 

 stance/^ 



From the near alliance which the species of Crotophaga 

 present to each other it may be necessary to describe the To- 

 bago birds as minutely as possible, which we are enabled to 

 do by the possession of skins and specimens in spirits, for- 

 warded to us by our acti\'e and intelligent correspondent. 

 From the form and markings of the bill exhibited in the an- 

 nexed wood-cut we feel inclined to refer it to the C. rugirostra 

 of Swainson, though from the manner in which the dimen- 

 sions are given in that ornithologist's ' Two Centenaries ' we 

 are not so sure that our birds agree in the latter point. 



C, rugirostra, Sw. ? Wrinkled-billed Keel-bill ; provincially 

 in Tobago, " Old Wife.'' 



Entirely black, glossed with violet reflexions on the wings 

 and. tail ; feathers of the head, neck and body with conspicu- 

 ous glossy margins; bill wrinkled transvei^sely downwards ; total 

 length from 13 to 15 inches. 



The specimens received vary in total length from 13 to rather 

 more than 15 inches, in one of about 14^ inches in length ; the 

 depth of the bill is 1 inch ; the length to the extremity of the 

 rictus 1^ ; length of the wing from the shoulder to the end 

 of the fourth or longest quill 6 inches, of the tail from its in- 

 sertion 7i j from beyond the wings 4|^; expanse of the wings 

 16|^; of the tarsus If; the centre toe, including the claw, 

 nearly the same. In the specimens received in spirits the bill 



