INSESSORES. 



117 



Cauda nigris, nitidissime purpureis, dirjitorum exfenorum unguihus 

 hrevihus, rostro faisiqite nigris. Long. tot. 19 p)olUc€s. 



Form. — Eather larger than Corvus capensis, Licht., but resembling it 

 in general form and appearance. Bill large, long, culmen arched, 

 apertures of the nostrils large, concealed by projecting bristle-like 

 plumes. Wing long, extending quite to the end of the tail ; first 

 quill short, third and fourth longest and nearly equal, first four pri- 

 maries deeply incised on their inner webs, narrow towards their 

 ends, and pointed ; tail somewhat wedge-shaped, central feathers 

 about one and a half inches longer than the two exterior ; feathers 

 of the throat and neck before, elongated, lanceolate, acuminated; 

 tarsi robust, moderately long; toes moderate, or rather short; claws 

 short. 



Dimensions. — Total length of skin (female), about nineteen inches; 

 wing, fifteen inches; tail, eight and a half inches; upper mandible, 

 from tip to angle of the mouth, two and six-tenths inches ; width of 

 the bill (or altitude), seven-tenths of an inch; tarsus, two and a half 

 inches. "Extent of wings, forty-four inches" (Peale). 



Colors. — Female. Head, and entire under parts glossy brown, or 

 snufF-colored ; upper parts (except the head) shining purplish-black, 

 most lustrous on the back and coverts of the wing. Feathers of the 

 tail, on their upper surface, with a bluish lustre on their outer, and 

 greenish lustre on their inner webs; inferior surfaces of the wings and 

 tail, brownish-black, particularly observable on that of the latter. 

 Shafts of the quills, on their inferior surfaces, brownish-black, barred 

 and spotted with white; tips of the feathers, on the flanks and under 

 tail-coverts, brownish-black ; bill and tarsi, black. 



Hab. — Island of Madeira. Specimen in Nat. Mus. Washington 

 City. 



This remarkable, raven-like crow is, undoubtedly, the species de- 

 scribed by Lesson and Pucheran, as above; though it is evidently allied 

 to and in some respects resembles Corvus capensis, Licht., of South 

 Africa. Of the latter species, we have never seen a specimen in which 

 the whole under parts were brown, nor with the shafts of the quills 

 on their under surfaces, marked with white, as in the present bird. 



30 



