Fifty Common Birds of China 



(i) CHINESE JUNGLE CROW {Fig. 2). 



Corvus coronoides kassi. Length 21 inches. 



Bill and feet black, iris dark brown. Bill stout and covered with 

 stiff feathers at base, pointing toward tip of bill and covering nostrils. 



Plumage. (Adult). Entire plumage deep black, glossed with purple 

 and green; feathers on the sides and back of neck disintegrated so as to 

 be like hair and nearly glossless; feathers on the throat only lanceolate 

 (pointed like a lance), for a space of an inch across. 



Characteristics. This Crow is a scavenger and is the fellow that 

 is often seen in your back yard, picking at a pile of refuse or thawing 

 ice. He is generally found singly or in pairs and never in large flocks, 

 like the Rooks or Jackdaws that go out to the fields every morning and 

 back to their roosts in the city about sunset. He is sometimes found in 

 the mountains. 



Distribution. North China; similar varieties of the Jungle Crow are 

 also found in South China. 



Nest and Eggs. The nest is built in tall trees, of twigs and sticks 

 lined with hair, feathers, and such material. Eggs four to six in a clutch. 



(Note). Very similar to the Jungle Crow is the Carrion Crow 

 {Corvus corone), with a more slender bill and more purplish glossy plu- 

 mage. The Jackdaw {Corvus neglectus), which occurs in north and central 

 China in great flocks in migration, is much smaller and ihi- adults have a 

 white nape and belly, 



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