..iK KlNG-CROW.- 



-BIRDS.- 



-The Umbhella Bird. 



339 



_, corvine intruders on its place of abode. 

 - dS these make tlieir appearance, tlie King-crow 

 ..icacks tliem with great clamour, following them per- 

 tinaciously, and pouncing down upon them from time 

 to time. The food of this bird consists of insects, and 

 he may be seen looking out for these from a hedge or 

 b'lsh, or some similar slight elevation, or even from the 

 hacks of cattle and sheep when grazing in a field. On 

 observing the stirring of an insect in the herbage below 

 liini, he instantly darts down, seizes his prey, and 

 flics up with it to his perch, where he devours it 

 at liis leisure and then looks out for more. He also 

 captures winged insects in the air, and, in company 

 with other binls, is a constant attendant at the issuing 

 of the winged termites from their nests, an occasion 

 which furnishes a rich feast. The note of this bird is 

 ilescribed as a sort of crow or chuckle. Its flight is 

 undulating, and not very rapid, except when in pursuit 

 lit a crow, or some other enemy. Its nest is composed 

 of grass, twigs, and roots, carelessly put together, and 

 contains from three to five eggs, of a white colour, with 

 pale brown or purplish spots. 



The King-crow is ten inches in length, of which, 

 liowever, about half is made up by the long forked 

 tail. It is a slender and gi'acefid bird of a black 

 colour. Several nearly allied species inhabit India, 

 and have much the same habits as the common King- 

 crow. Other species occur in Africa, and one, the 

 Si'ANGLED Droxgo {Dicrurui bntdeatus), in the 

 northern part of Australia. 



THE PARADISE DRONGO {EdoHms paradisetis), ano- 

 ther Indian species, is of a blue-black colour, with 

 the head crested, and the two outer feathers of the 

 tail much elongated, forming two long naked stalks, 

 terminated by small palettes formed of barbs. This 

 beautiful bird is abundant in the lofty jungles of 

 Western India, where it is generally seen in small 

 parties, and like the common King-crow, often pur- 

 sues crows and birds of prey, and chases them from 

 its haunts. Its food consists principally of large 

 coleopterous insects, which it usually catches in the same 

 way as the common King-crow ; it also snaps up flying 

 insects in the air, or snatches them from a branch. 

 The note of this species is very peculiar, consisting of 

 two parts, the first a sort of harsh chuckle, and the 

 second a singular metallic sound, something like the 

 creaking of a heavy wheel. It has other notes, and is 

 Raid by the Hindoos to imitate the notes of all other 

 birds ; whence it has been called by them tlie Iluxar 

 Dustan, or " Bird of a Thousand Tales." 



THE BARE-NECKED FRUIT-CKOW [Gymnoderus 

 f'didv.s.) We conclude the family of the Chatterers 

 with a singular series of American species, which 

 exhibit so much analogy with the Crows, that by 

 some ornithologists they have even been placed in 

 that family of conirostral birds. The tjiie of this 

 small group is the Bare-necked Fruit-crow of Cayenne, 

 •I bird about the size of a pigeon, which does not 

 appear to be very common in its native country, and 

 the habits of which are almost unknown, except that it 

 it said to feed principally upon fruits. This singular 

 bird has a moderately long and stout bill, of a whitish 

 colour, with the tip nearlj' black ; the groove in which 



the nostrils are placed, is filled up and concealed by a 

 thick covering of small velvet-like feathers, which, with 

 the similar plumes of the head and upper part of the 

 neck, are black. The skin of the neck is naked, with 

 the exception of a few very minute black feathers, 

 which are scattered here and there upon its surface ; 

 the plumage of the body is black, the wing-coverts 

 and tertials bluish ash-colour, and the tail feathers 

 black. 



THE BAIiD-HEADED FRUIT-CROW {Gymnocephalus 

 cahus), which is also an inhabitant of Cayenne, is 

 about the size of a crow, and has the upper part of 

 the head bai'e of feathers, from which the negroes of 

 Cayenne have given it the name of the Oiseau-mon- 

 pere. The general colour of the plumage is olive, 

 with a greenish tint on the upper, and a reddish tint on 

 the lower sm-face; the wings are brown, and the tail 

 blackish. Scarcely anything is known of the habits 

 of tills bird ; it is supposed to live principally upon 

 fruits. 



THE UMBRELLA BIRD {Cuphahpkrus oniatus)—^g. 

 112 — is perhaps one of the most extraordinary of birds, 

 at least as regards the singidar ornaments with which it 

 is provided. It is about the size of a crow, and, as the 

 whole of its plumage is of a deep black colour, it has 

 a good deal of the corvine character in its aspect. But 

 its head is adorned with a large and spreading crest, 

 which appears as if intended by nature to serve as a 

 parasol to keep the light from the eyes of the bird ; it 

 is at least as large in proportion as the articles com- 

 monly carried by ladies for that purpose. Mr. AVallace, 

 who observed the bird in its native haunts, gives the 

 following description of this singular ornament: — "The 

 crest," he says, " is perhaps the most fully-developed 

 and bcautifid of any bird known. It is composed of 

 long, slender feathers, rising from a contractile skin on 

 the top of the head. The shafts are white, and the 

 plume glossy blue, hair-like, and curved outwards at 

 the tip. When the crest is laid back, the shafts form 

 a compact white mass, sloping up from the top of the 

 head, and surmounted by the dense hairy plumes. 

 Even in this position it is not an uielegant crest ; but it 

 is when it is fully opened that its peculiar character is 

 developed. The shafts then radiate on all sides from 

 the top of the head, reaching in front beyond and below 

 the tip of the beak, which is completely hid from view. 

 The top then forms a perfect, slightly elongated dome 

 of a beautiful shining blue colour, having a point of 

 divergence rather behind the centre, like that in the 

 human head. The length of this dome from front to 

 back is about five inches, the breadth from four to four 

 and a half inches." As if this remarkably beautiful 

 crest was not sufficient to distinguish the bird aiuongst 

 its fellows, it is also furnished with a second singular 

 ornament, nothing resembling which is to be found in 

 the whole scries of birds. "This," to borrow Mr. 

 Wallace's words again, " is a long cylindrical plume of 

 feathers depending from the middle of the neck, and 

 either carried close to the breast, or puffed out and 

 hanging down in front. The feathers lap over each 

 other, scale-like, and are bordered with fine metallic 

 blue. On examining the structure of this plume, it is 

 found not to be composed of feathers only growing 



