2 ALLEN'S NATURALIST'S LIBRARY. 



representatives of this Section that we have to deal in the 

 present volume. 



FIG. I. Ventral aspect of skull of Rook to show the segithognathous 

 palate and bony siphonium : z>. vomer ; mpl.-p, maxillo-palatine pro- 

 cess ; pi. palatine ; pg. pterygoid ; q. quadrate ; b.s. basi-sphenoid ; 

 s. r. sphenoidal rostrum. (From the Catalogue of Osteological 

 Specimens in the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons.) 



SINGING BIRDS. SECTION A.-OSCINES. 



THE CROWS. FAMILY CORVID^E. 

 AMONG the members of this family will be found some of 

 the most perfect, if one may use such an expression, of all the 

 Passeriformes. The structure of a Raven or a Crow presents 



