VERTEBRATA: AVES. 625 



ing birds, all characterised by their long, strong, and com- 

 pressed beaks, the tip of the upper mandible being slightly 

 hooked and more or less notched. In this family are the 

 Jays (Gam4in&)\ the true Crows or Coruince (comprising the 

 Rooks, Carrion-crows, Ravens, Jackdaws, Magpie, Chough, 

 &c.), and the Birds of Paradise (Paradiseida}. These last 

 differ considerably from the ordinary Corvida, but can hardly 

 be separated as a distinct family. They are amongst the most 

 beautiful of all birds, and are entirely confined to New Guinea 

 and the neighbouring islands. They feed upon insects and 

 fruit, and are largely destroyed for the sake of their feathers. 

 The natives who capture them usually cut off their legs ; hence 

 the notion formerly prevailed that the Birds of Paradise were 

 destitute of these limbs. It is only the males which possess 

 the brilliant plumage, the females being soberly dressed ; and 

 in accordance with this fact, it is stated that the Birds of Par- 

 adise are polygamous, being in this respect an exception to 

 almost the entire order of the Insessores* " They are char- 

 acterised by extraordinary developments of plumage, which are 

 unequalled in any other family of birds. In several species 

 large tufts of delicate, bright -coloured feathers spring from 

 each side of the body, forming trains, fans, or shields ; and 

 the middle feathers of the train are often elongated into wires, 

 twisted into fantastic shapes, or adorned with the most brilliant 

 metallic tints. In another set of species, the accessory plumes 

 spring from the head, the back, or the shoulders ; whilst the 

 intensity of colour and of metallic lustre displayed by their 

 plumage, is not to be equalled by any other birds, except, 

 perhaps, the Humming-birds, and is not surpassed by these." 

 (Wallace.) 



The family of the Starlings (Sturnidce) is not separated from 

 that of the Crows by any important characters. Besides our 

 common Starlings, it includes a number of other more or less 

 singular birds, of which the Bower-birds of Australia are per- 

 haps the most peculiar. These curious birds have the habit 

 of building very elaborate bowers, often very beautifully con- 

 structed and of considerable size, in which they amuse them- 

 selves and apparently make love to one another. These bowers 

 are wholly independent of their nests, which they construct 

 elsewhere. 



The last family of the Conirostres is that of the Fringittid&\ 

 comprising the Finches, Linnets, and Larks. In these birds 



* The Humming-birds are thought to be polygamous, and this is cer- 

 tainly the case with the Whydah Finch (Vidua). 



2 R 



