THE BOYS TON, OR HOODED CROW. 



297 



are short, and when closed do not reach within an inch of the tip of the tail. As is the 

 case with many others of the same tribe, there are instances of pale and pied Jackdaws, the 

 wings and tail being generally darker than the remainder of the body. In the British Museum 

 there is a good specimen of an albino jay, the body being creamy white, while the wings retain 

 the barred blue and black so characteristic of the species, but extremely pale. 



Sometimes the Jackdaw will take possession of the deserted nest of a rook or crow, and 

 laying a substratum of hay and wool upon the original fabric, deposit its eggs and rear its 

 yonng upon this easily-gotten property. Occasionally, but very rarely, the Jackdaw has been 

 seen to build a regular nest in the branches of trees, rocks, or rabbit-warrens — ruins and 

 church-towers being wanting. 



The remarkable bird which lias very appropriately been called the Great-billed Crow, 

 is, undoubtedly, the most singular example of the whole tribe. 



In its dimensions it is much larger than an ordinary crow, and rather smaller than a raven, 

 for which bird it might be taken but for the extraordinary beak. The bill of this species is 



GREAT-BILLED CRO W.— C'oniultur craesirostiis. 



so large as to remind the observer of a toucan or a puffin, and the bite of such a powerful 

 weapon must be most formidable. It is very deep, thick, and rounded, becoming wider at the 

 top and deeply ridged, curving suddenly to a point, and very sharp at its extremity. In color 

 it is jetty-black, except the extreme tip, which is white. 



The color of this bird is deep shining black on the upper parts, like that of the raven, 

 having a slight purplish gloss upon the sides. Upon the back of the neck there is a pure 

 white oval mark, and upon the shoulders there is another white patch of a crescentic shape ; 

 the two being connected with a narrow line of white down the back of the neck, so that the 

 whole shape of the mark resembles an orange in a wine-glass. The Great-billed Crow is a 

 native of Abyssinia. 



The Royston Crow, or Hooded Crow, or Gray Crow, is a very conspicuous bird, on 

 account of the curiously pied plumage with which it is invested. 



This bird is found plentifully in Europe, except in England, having been seen in large flocks 

 of several hundred in number on the east coast of Jura. Generally it is not very gregarious, the 



Vol. II.— 38. 



