204 AVES. 



Tlie Hooded Crow (C. comix, Lm.)- — Ash-coloured, \\\ih black head, tail, and win^s. Is less frugivorous, and 

 frequents the sea-shore, preying on stielled mollusks, &c. ; [feeds niucli on carrion and p;arlja^e]. Naumann 

 assures us that it often breeds with the black Crow, and produces fertile offspring- [the truth being-, we bebeve, 

 tliat black var'wlii:.: mI" the I li.ioded Crow now and then occur, as is indeed said to be the case by several authors.] 



The Jackdaw ((_'. i/io/'t-ih/hi, Lin.). — A fourth shorter than the three !ast, or about the size of a Pigeon, and black, 

 ■with a pale p;ray nape ; builds in steeples, old towers, &c,, [and the holes of trees,] lives in flocks, and subsists on 

 the same reg-imen as the others, frequently flying with them. Predatory birds have no enemy more vig^ilant. 

 [These are the BrJtihh ^^pi-cies, and there are many more; one (C. sperniulo^/ua, A'ieillot; inhabits centra! Europe]. 



The Magpies {Pica, Cuv.) — 

 Are less tlian the Crows, [and blighter Iniilt] ; have also the upper mandible more arcuated than the 

 lower, and the tail long and much graduated. 



The European Magpie {Core, pica, Lin.) — A very handsome bird, of a silky black, with purple, blue, and bronzed 

 rerlectioiiS : the belly white, and a great -white patch over each wing. Its continual chattering has rendered it 

 celebrated. It prefers the neighbourhood of human habitations, and subsists on all sorts of food, even carrying 

 off young poultry. [Specimens from North America are undistinguishaljle; but there is another species in that 

 continent, with a yellow bill, and differently bronzed tail {P. N at t all i, A.ud.); and we have seen a species from 

 Norway, hitherto undescribed, much smaller in all its proportions than the common Magpie, with tail resembhng 

 that of the Yellow-billed species. We will term it P. scandiaca. 



There are several birds nearly allied, with magnificent azure plumage ; and some with sliorter bills, and more 

 strictly arboreal conformation, as the Indian P. vagahunda, which compose the Bendrocitla of Gould]. 



The Jays (Garrulus, Cuv.) — 

 Have T)Oth mandibles slightly elongated, and terminated ])y a sudden cinve ; T>hen the tail is gradu- 

 ated, the bill is more lengthened; and the frontal feathers, lax and disunited, are more or lets erected 

 when the bird is excited. 



Tlie European Jay (Cori'. ^^<T?va(7rJ».9, Lin.) is a handsome bird, of a vinaceous-!2;rey colour, v>ith black quibs 

 and moustaches, and a beautiful mottled patch on each wing, rayed \iith bright blue. It subsists principally on 

 acorns during the season. Is very imitative, and nestles in our woods, hving in pairs or families. [There are two 

 closely alhed species— the Syrian Jay, distinguished by a black crown, and that of Japan, which has black cheeks ; 

 the proportions of the ornamental patch on the wing are also different. Other proximate species occur on the 

 Himmalaya mountains. 



The Jays with longer and more slender bills, and graduated tails, are all smaller, and constitute the Cijanocorax 

 of Buie, in part. There are four species in North America, of \\luch the well-known Blue Jay (G. crii;taius) affords 

 a familiar example. A species of this group occurs on the Himmalaya mountains of Asia, and we are disposed also 

 to refer to it the Pica cyanea, Wagler, common in Spain. The AYhiskev-jacks {Pcrifujreua, Bonap.) compose another 

 smaU natural group, scarcely differing from the Pari in structure, and but httle in habit ; the European Corv. 

 infaustuSy Lin., and C. canademis, Lin., of North America, belong to it.] 



TfTE IN'TJTCRACKERS (Cari/oca/actes , Cuv.; Nvcifraga, Vieillot) — 

 Have both mandibles equ;Uh pointed, straight, and \A-itliout curvature. 



The European Nutcracker (Corv. caryocatacies, Lin.).— Brown, speckled with whitish ad over the body. It nes- 

 tles in the holes of trees, in dense mountain forests ; chmbs trees and perforates their bark, like the Woodpeckers; 

 devours all sorts of fruit, insects, and small birds ; and sometimes comes in flocks into tlie plains, but without 

 regularity. Is celebrated for its confideuce. [There is a larger species, closely alhed, on the Himmalayas ; and a 

 third in America, \\ithout any spots, the Corvus col nm hi (in us, \\'ilson]. 



The Temia, Vaillant {Crt/psinua, Yicillol ; Phrenotrix, Horsfield),— 

 With the front and tail of llie Magpies, combines an elevated bill, and bulged upper mandible, the 

 base of which is adorned with velvety feathers, nearly as in the Birds of Paradise. 



The first-known species {Corv. vaHans, Latham), is of a bronzed green colour. These birds are found in Africa 

 and India. 



TiiE Glaucopis, Forster, — 



A similar beak and front, but two fleshy canincles at the base of the bill. 



Tlie known species {Gl. chierea, Lath.), inhabits New Holland, and is the size of a Magpie, blackish, with a 

 graduated tail ; it lives on insects and berries, seldom perches, and is esteemed guod eating. 



The Rollers [Coracias, Lin.) — 

 Have a strong beak, compressed towards the tip, with the point of the upper mandible a little hooked ; 

 oblong nostrils placed at a slight distance from the plumage, and not covered by incumbent feathers ; 

 the feet short and stout [with their outer and middle toes free to the articulation]. They are peculiar 

 to the eastern hemisphere, and l^ear some resemblance to the Jays in their manners, and in their lax 

 fiontal feathers ; are vividly coloured, but in general not harmoniously. 



