Cova. OMNIVORI. NUCIFRAGA. 83 
to his Ornithological Dictionary, to which my readers are 
referred. 
' Pirate 33. Natural size. 
Bill long, slender, and considerably arched, of a beautiful or- Gone 
escrip- 
piment orange-colour. tion. 
Irides yellowish-brown. Whole plumage black, glossed with 
purple and blue. Legs and toes the same colour as the 
bill. Claws black, strong, and hooked. 
The female is of similar plumage to the male, but rather less 
in size. 
The young of this species, according to Tremmincx, have 
dark-coloured legs previous to the first moult ; but Mon- 
Tacu asserts them to be orange-coloured from the nest. 
Genus V. NUTCRACKER. NUCIFRAGA, Briss. 
GENERIC CHARACTERS. 
Bill long and strait, the upper mandible rounded, and 
longer than the lower one, both of them terminating in a 
slightly obtuse and depressed point. Nostrils in the base of 
the bill, round, open, and covered by the reflected frontal 
bristies. Wings rather acuminated; the first quill short ; 
the fourth being the longest in the wing. Tarsus longer than 
the middle toe. Feet with three toes before, and one behind. 
The outer toe joimed to the middle one at its base. 
This bird has also been very judiciously separated from 
the crows by late ornithologists, essentially differing from 
that genus, not only in the confirmation of its bill, but in its 
habits. In the latter respect it approaches nearer to the 
_ woodpeckers, and seems to form a connecting link between 
the genera Corvus and Picus. It is the only known species 
of this genus. 
FQ 
