516 



A HISTORY OF 



nary size and fashion of its bill, must not be 

 passed in silence. This is the Calao, or horn- 

 ed Indian raven, which exceeds the common 

 raven in size, and habits of depredation. 

 But what he differs in from all other birds is 

 the beak, which by its length and curvature 

 at the end, appears designed for rapine; but 

 then it has a kind of horn standing out from 

 the top, which looks somewhat like a second 

 bill, and gives this bird, otherwise fierce and 

 ugly, a very formidable appearance. The 

 horn springs out of the forehead, and grows 

 to the upper part of the bill, being of great 

 bulk; so that near the forehead it is four in- 

 ches broad, not unlike the horn of the rhi- 

 noceros, but more crooked at the tip. Were 

 the body of the bird answerable in size to 



the head, the calao would exceed in magni- 

 tude even the vulture or the eagle. But the 

 head and beak are out of all proportion, the 

 body being not much larger than that of a 

 hen. Yet even here there are varieties; 

 for in such of those birds as come from differ- 

 ent parts of Africa, the body is proportionable 

 to the beak ; in such as come from the Mo- 

 lucca Islands, the beak bears no proportion 

 to the body. Of what use this extraordinary 

 excrescence is to the bird, is not easy to de- 

 termine; it lives, like others of its kind, upon 

 carrion, and seldom has a living enemy to 

 cope w ith : Nature seems to sport in the pro- 

 duction of many animals, as if she were wil- 

 ling to exhibit instances as well of variety as 

 economy in their formation. 



CHAPTER C. 



OF THE MAGPIE, AND ITS AFFINITIES. 



THERE are such a variety of birds that 

 may be distributed under this head, that we 

 must not expect very precise ideas of any. 

 To have a straight strong bill, legs formed 

 for hopping, a body of about the size of a 

 magpie, and party-coloured plumage, are the 

 only marks by which I must be contented to 

 distinguish this numerous fantastic tribe, that 

 add to the beauty, though not to the har- 

 mony, of our landscapes. In fact, their chat- 

 tering every where disturbs the melody of 

 the lesser warblers ; and their noisy court- 

 ship not a little damps the song of the linnet 

 and the nightingale. 



However, we have very few of this kind in 

 our woods compared to those in the neigh- 

 bourhood of the line. There they not only 

 paint the scene with the beauty and the va- 

 riety of their plumage, but stun the ear with 

 their vociferation. In those luxurious forests, 

 the singing birds are scarcely ever heard, 

 but a hundred varieties of the* pie, the jay, 

 the roller, the chatterer, and the toucan, are 

 continually in motion, and with their illusive 

 mockeries disturb or divert the spectator, as 

 he happens to be disposed. 



The magpie is the chief of this kind with 

 us, and is too well known to need a descrip- 

 tion. Indeed, were its other accomplishments 

 equal to its beauty, few birds could be put 

 in competition. Its black, its white, its green, 

 and purple, with the rich and gilded combi- 

 nation of the glosses on its tail, are as fine as 

 any that adorn the most beautiful of the fea- 

 thered tribe. But it has too many of the qua- 

 lities of a beau, to depreciate these natural 

 perfections: vain, restless, loud, and quar- 

 relsome, it is an unwelcome intruder every 

 where ; and never misses an opportunity, 

 when it finds one, of doing mischief. 



The magpie bears a great resemblance to 

 the butcher-bird in its bill, which has a sharp 

 process near the end of the upper chap, as 

 well as in the shortness of its wings, and the 

 form of the tail ; each feather shortening from 

 the two middlemost. But it agrees still more 

 in its food, living not only upon worms and 

 insects, but also upon small birds when they 

 can be seized. A wounded lark, or a young 

 chicken separated from the hen, are sure 

 plunder; and the magpie will even some- 

 times set upon and strike a blackbird. 



