96 PASSERES. 



62. CORVUS CORONE. 

 (CARRION-CROW.) 



Corvus eorone, Linneus, Syst. Nat. i. p. 165 (1766). 



The Carrion-Crow is almost as large as the Japanese Raven (wing 

 from carpal joint 14 to 12J inches), but it has a very much slenderer 

 bill. The feathers of the mantle are glossed with greenish purple 

 and have pale grey bases. 



Figures : Dresser, Birds of Europe, iv. pi. 263. fig. 1. 



The Carrion-Crow is a resident in aU the Japanese Islands, but is 

 not so abundant as its thicker-billed ally. I have three examples 

 collected by Mr. Snow on the Kurile Islands. In the Swinhoe 

 collection there are two examples from Hakodadi, one collected by 

 Captain Blakiston (Swinhoe, Ibis, 1874, p. 159) and the other by 

 Mr. Whitely ; and in the Pryer collection there are three examples 

 from Yokohama. Mr. Ringer has procured it at Nagasaki, where 

 the examples obtained by the Siebold Expedition were doubtless 

 procured (Temminck and Schlegel, Fauna Japonica, Aves, p. 79). 



The range of the Carrion-Crow extends westward from Japan 

 across Siberia as far as the valley of the Yenesay ,• thence it con- 

 tinues along the mountains of Southern Siberia across Turkestan, 

 the Caucasus, and the valley of the Danube into Europe, west of the 

 Elbe, as far south as Spain, and as far north as the British Islands. 



The Carrion-Crow of East Asia has been separated from that of 

 Europe by Eversmann, Dybowski, and others, on the ground of 

 its larger size, more rounded tail, and more brilliant plumage. 

 Examples from Japan vary in length of wing from carpal joint from 

 12^ to 14 inches; the outer tail-feathers are from ^ to 1 inch 

 shorter than the longest, and the gloss of the back looks green 

 when contrasted with that of the Rook, and purple when contrasted 

 with that of the Japanese Raven. It can scarcely be regarded even 

 as subspecifically distinct. 



The attempt to place the Raven, Crow, Jackdaw, and Rook each 

 in a separate genus has been almost universally abandoned, much 

 to the credit of ornithologists, and greatly to the advantage of 

 ornithology, which has been exposed to much well-deserved derision 

 from the invention of so many pseudo-genera. 



