40 CROW. 



no means certain. Is found also in India, and blended with other 

 birds, under the name of Bhejunga. 



34— RUFOUS-BELLIED CROW. 



Corrus rufigaster, Ind. Orn. Sup. xxvi. Shaw's Zool. vii. 377. 

 — — — octopennatus, Daud. ii. 243. 

 Pie a culotte de Peau, Levail. Ois. ii. 20. pi. 55. 

 Rufous-bellied Crow, Gen. Syn. Sup. ii. 118. 



SIZE of the Blackbird. Bill and legs black ; whole plumage 

 above glossy black ; tail cuneiform, half as long again as the bird, 

 with a fine blue gloss on all the feathers in some lights; belly, thighs, 

 and vent flesh-colour, or fine rufous ; the vent inclines to brown. 



This is figured by Levaillant from one in the collection of M. 

 Ray de Breukelerward of Amsterdam. Said to have been brought 

 from some of the South Sea Isles, and seems to have affinity with the 

 Senegal Species, from its shape and cuneiform tail ; the bill less 

 strong than in the Magpie, approaching to that of a Thrush. In this 

 single specimen were only eight feathers in the tail, and no trace of 

 more could be found; if this be really the case with all of the same 

 species, as may be learned hereafter, it is, we believe, an unusual 

 occurrence ; for we do not at present know any bird with fewer than 

 ten feathers in its tail, when complete. 



35— VARIABLE CROW. 



Corvus versicolor, Ind. Orn: Sup. xxv. 

 Variable Crow, Gen. Syn. Sup. ii. p. 117. 



THE true size of this bird is uncertain, but as the drawing from 

 whence this description is taken was nine inches in length, and men- 

 tioned as one-fourth of the true size, we must consider it as a large 



