CORVINE. 303 



wings and tail blacky moderately glossed ; lower parts dull black, 

 not so deep as trie upper parts, and only slightly glossed. 



Length about 15 inches ; wing If ; tail 5\ ; bill at front 1| ; 

 tarsus If. The wings reach to within an inch or so of the end 

 of the tail. 



The Jackdaw is tolerably abundant in Cashmere and in the 

 Punjab, in the latter country in the cold weather only. It builds 

 in Cashmere in old ruined palaces, holes in rocks, beneath roofs 

 of houses, and also in tall trees, laying four to six eggs, pale 

 bluish green, dotted and spotted with brownish black. It has not 

 been noticed in any other part of India, but inhabits all Europe 

 and Western Asia. 



A second species of true Jackdaw, C. dauricus, Pallas, is found 

 in China and Central Asia. 



Many species of Crows are found in all parts of the world, 

 except in Australia ; some from Africa, very remarkable for their 

 large size and strong vulturine bills, are rightly separated as 

 Corvultur. The habits of some of the African Hornbills are de- 

 scribed as being not unlike those of Carrion-crows (vide vol. L 

 p. 241), and the Darwinian might venture to theorize that 

 the high-ridged bill of the Crows above alluded to was inherited 

 by them in right of descent from these African Hornbills. 



The nexfe birds are the Nut-crackers, comprising only three 

 known species, found in the temperate parts of the Old Continent, 

 and the Himalayas : one bird, differing slightly in type, but by 

 some referred to this division, Corvus columbianus, Wilson (now 

 Picicorvus, Bonaparte), occurs in North America. 



Gen. Nucifraga, Brisson. 



Syn. Caryocatactes, Cuv. 



Char. — Bill straight, subulate, longish ; the tip blunt, not hooked, 

 dilated atthe base, and dividing the frontal feathers; short incumbent 

 bristles at the base of bill, concealing the nostrils ; wings with 

 4th and 5th quills sub-equal and longest ; tail moderate, or rather 

 long, slightly rounded ; tarsus and toes moderate, lateral toes 

 nearly equal, hind toe longish ; claws slightly curved. 



The Nut-crackers are birds of generally brown color, and spotted 

 plumage, and feed chiefly on seeds and nuts, but also on insects 



