BIRDS. 



565 



Fig. 465. — Blue-jay (Cyanocitta cristata). 



the chapter on these birds in Wallace's ' Malay Archipelago.' We would 

 remark, however, that while Wallace enumerates but eighteen species, 

 subsequent collectors have increased the number to over thirty. 



Our sombre-colored crows, ravens, and the like are closely related to 

 the magnificent birds just alluded to, and here, too, come the series of 

 loud-voiced, scolding jays. 

 Anions; the birds none 

 make more interesting pets 

 than the crows and ravens. 

 Their voices, to be sure, are 

 not melodious, and their 

 colors are not beautiful, 

 but there is a cunning, a 

 sense of humor among 

 these birds which will af- 

 ford unceasing amusement. 

 The only drawback is their 

 thievishness ; everything 

 bright will be stolen when- 

 ever the bird has the slight- 

 est chance. If a thimble be missing, the crow's nest is the first place to 

 look for it ; and this search invariably reveals other stolen things con- 

 cealed among the sticks and straws. 



Almost equally interesting are the starlings of the Old World, which 

 we must dismiss with the mention of but two species. First conies the 

 huia-bird of New Zealand, shown in the cut. The most remarkable pecu- 

 liarity in this species is the difference in the shape of the bill in the two 

 sexes, — short and straight in the male, long and curved in the female. 

 Correlated with this difference in bills is one of habits. The birds are 

 something like woodpeckers in their food, eating the grubs and larvas in 

 decaying wood. The male uses his sharp bill, like a pick, to tear away 

 the wood, while the female inserts her long bill into the borings, and picks 

 out the morsel which her lord cannot reach. 



The other starling-like forms to be mentioned are the buffalo-birds of 

 the tropical portions of the eastern hemisphere. Of these there are sev- 

 eral species, but they are all much alike in their habits, and one quotation 

 from the pages of Mr. H. 0. Forbes will illustrate the economy of all. " I 

 never tired of watching the friendly relations between the buffalo-birds and 

 their bovine hosts. They used to collect in impatient flocks about the hour 

 of the return of the herd to the feeding-grounds from the wallowing-holes, 

 whither, in the heat of the day, they retired ; and as soon as the cattle 



