PLATE 



ATI. 



GENUS STREPERA (Lesson). 



ALTHOUGH bearing a certain resemblance to the Crows, the members of this genus are really 

 distinct from them in all their characteristics and habits. 



STEEPER A FULIGINOSA (Gould). 



BLACK MAGPIE. 



THE Black Magpie inhabits New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, and Tasmania, frequenting 

 principally swampy situations and thickly wooded places in the vicinity of water. 



It principally remains on the trees, but is also to be seen sometimes on the ground, where it 

 displays great activity. It is capable of long and extended flights, generally made in small companies of 

 three or four. 



The food consists both of insects and grubs, and of various berries and seeds. 



The nest is constructed on one of the branches of a tree, and is built of sticks, lined with moss 

 and various grasses. Three eggs are laid, the colour of which is pale brown, blotched and spotted with 

 darker colour. In length they are one inch and ten lines, and in breadth one inch and three lines. 



The female is slightly smaller than the male, but they do not differ in plumage. 



The whole of the plumage is brownish-black, the primaries margined with light brown ; irides, 

 light brown ; bill, black ; legs and feet, blackish-brown. 



Habitats : New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, and Tasmania. 



STREPERA GRACULINA (G. r. Gray). 



PIED CBOW-SHR1KE. 



NEARLY every part of New South Wales and Victoria, except the open plains, is inhabited by this 

 species, one of the first known of the genus. 



In habits it resembles greatly the Strepera Fuliginosa, but is more strictly arboreal, and makes 

 its chief food of berries and fruits. 



