tion. 



344 INSESSORES. CORVID.E. 



is made in the holes of trees, and in old walls, but the num- 

 ber and colour of its eggs are not mentioned. The young, 

 in their nestling plumage, are very unlike the parent birds, 

 and greatly resemble the young of the Starling. 



Plate 36. Fig. 2. Natural size. 

 C 1 Upper mandible of the bill and the point of the lower 

 descrip- one reddish-orange, the rest black. Irides brown. Head 



adorned with a long pendent crest of loose silky feathers, 

 falling backwards, which, as well as the neck and upper 

 parts of the breast, are of a velvet-black, with violet and 

 green reflections. The whole of the belly and the back 

 are of a delicate peach-blossom red. Wings and tai} 

 brownish -black, with violet reflections. Under tail-co- 

 verts and thighs black. Legs flesh-red, very strong and 

 muscular. 

 The female is similar to the male bird in markings, but the 

 crest is shorter, and the red less pure in its tint. The 

 young of the year have the bill of a blackish-brown 

 colour. No crest. Head, and all the upper parts of 

 the body, hair-brown, tinged with grey. Wing-coverts 

 edged with greyish-white. Throat, and centre of the 

 belly white. Legs and feet wood-brown. 



Family TIL— CORVID^, Le^ch. 



We now enter upon the family which forms the second 

 typical group of the Conirostral tribe, and embraces, besides 

 other genera, the greater part of those included by Temminck 

 in his order Omnivores. In the typical form, or True Crows, 

 the bill is in the shape of a lengthened cone, very strong, 

 and with sharp cultrated edges. The legs and feet also are 

 strong, and fully developed, being thus equally adapted both 

 for walking upon the ground and for perching on trees. In 

 these birds, the appetite may be styled Omnivorous, as they 



