40 GARDEN AND AVIARY BIRDS. 



House-Crow, which it equals in size. Its tail, however, 

 is a little shorter than the Crow's and as different as 

 possible from a real Magpie's lengthened appendage. 

 The bill of the Piping-Crow is stout at the root, but rapidly 

 tapers to the hooked tip, which is dark ; the rest of the 

 bill is of a peculiar bluish white, with no bristles at the 

 root as in a true Crow. Except for this peculiar beak, 

 which much resembles that of the Australian Butcher- 

 birds birds which anyone could at once see to be Shrikes 

 the Piping-Crow is much more Crow than Shrike to 

 look at, having a Crow's long legs and power of running 

 actively about on the ground. The markings of the 

 plumage are very peculiar, and unlike those of any other 

 bird. The head, feet, .all the underparts and the flanks, 

 are black ; so also are the wings, but they bear a white 

 patch ; the tail is white with a black tip, and there is a 

 white patch covering the back of the neck. The space 

 between neck and tail may be either black, white, or grey, 

 the black-backed birds coming from one part of Australia, 

 and the light-backed from another ; but it is doubtful 

 whether they are really distinct species, and for all prac- 

 tical purposes they may be reckoned as one. Male and 

 female are alike, but young birds are thickly mottled 

 with drab underneath, and in buying a bird which it is 

 intended to teach and make a pet of, this drab mottling 

 as a sign of youth, must be looked out for. An old bird, 

 however, will be found to have a most beautiful whistle 

 of its own, rich and varied, which alone makes the species 

 worth keeping, to say nothing of its being a handsome 

 bird and possessed of much character. A young bird 



