Sir W. Jardine on the Habits of Crotophaga. 321 



pie^ have at all times been objects of superstition to the com- 

 mon people. 



" Setting aside the pecuUar shape of its beak, the Crotophaga 

 resembles the Corvidae further in some points of its outer ap- 

 pearance. Its form and graceful motions when gliding through 

 between the branches of the trees and shrubs or when on the 

 wing remind us of the genera Pica and Garrulus ; at the base 

 of the bill we observe setaceous feathers, a character of the 

 Corvinae ; the fourth quill is the longest, colour entirely black, 

 glossed with violet reflexions like the genus Corvus. The flesh 

 has a disagreeable odour ; nevertheless I have been informed 

 that this does not deter some of the negroes from eating them ; 

 and I have been more than once told, that they are used as 

 substitutes for pigeons or rooks in pies. 



" I agree perfectly with Mr. Kirk that they do not build their 

 nest on the ground ; it is generally built in the fork of trees : 

 but although the construction of the nest resembles that of the 

 Corvidae, it is built at a less height from the ground. I can- 

 not substantiate by ocular evidence that they breed in com- 

 munity, but I have heard it always asserted of the larger spe- 

 cies (C major). The Indians have told me on inquiry, that 

 in the nest of the smaller species, which you call C. rugirostra, 

 they find only from five to seven eggs ; but in those of the 

 larger they are so numerous that they fill a whole calabash. 

 The Indians, at least the Warraus and Arawaks, eat these 

 eggs ; and their evidence that they take such a large number 

 of eggs from the nests of C. major, confirms the belief that 

 they use a common nest. Sororeng, one of the Indians who 

 has accompanied me to London, and who served me as inter- 

 preter during the last expedition, assures me that he has seen 

 three birds of the larger species (C. major) which they call 

 Woworima, sitting in one nest ; and on asking him how many 

 eggs he saw in the nest, he designated the number by pointing 

 to the number of his fingers and his toes. 



" I have noted both species (C. major and Ani riiyirostra}) 

 along the rivers of Guiana ; they are therefore not peculiar to 

 savannahs. When ascending the rivers Essequibo, Parima, 

 Rio Branco, Orinoco, &c. we observed them frequently along 

 the woody banks of these rivers : disturbed by the noise of our 



Ann. Nat. Hist, Vol.4. No. 25. Jan.lMO. 2 a 



