70 MANUAL 



plumage and blackbird-like bill and claws are present, yet 

 there is a distinction. The bill is as long as or longer than the 

 head, the legs are long, the tail is long, and, comparatively, 

 the wings are short ; were there no other characteristics these 

 alone would be sufficient to distinguish the group. The care- 

 ful study of the bill will show other well-defined differences. 

 The two genera are constant. 



Genera, Scolecophagus, The Rusty Blackbirds or Grackles (2 species). 

 Quiscalus, The Crow Blackbirds or Grackles (6 species). 



FAMILY XVIII CORVIDAE THE CROWS 

 AND JAYS 



Latin corvus, the raven. 



Few persons would mistake a Crow for any other bird, yet, 

 strange to say, when we come to consider the family to which 

 it belongs, and all the members of that family, we are again 

 baulked, as in many other instances, for a precise definition 

 of it. This only shows, more conclusively than ever, how 

 truly defective a great deal of our classification really is. 

 The number of families which individuals of the Crow family 

 closely resemble is very great, and we have not space to enter 

 largely into this subject. If you define the Titmice you de- 

 scribe a miniature Crow or Jay ; if, on the other hand, you 

 judge merely by resemblance, at a little distance, your Crow 

 becomes a gigantic Grackle ; yet, technically even, nobody 

 would ever think seriously of combining any of the individ- 

 uals of either family with those of the other. 



The general characters of the Corrida? are : Bill stout, regu- 

 larly tapering to its acute point and not longer than the head, 

 and altogether a very typical bill ; nostrils more or less con- 

 cealed by tufts of stiff bristly feathers which are directed for- 

 wards towards the tip of the bill ; tarsus scutellate in front 

 and grooved ; wings often primaries, with the first about half 

 the second in length ; tail of twelve feathers and, though va- 

 rying greatly in shape, is generally rather long and always 

 rounded or graded. Aside from these characters, the general 



