COR 
COR 
coidese, or compomid radiated flowers. 
Corymbiferas, Jussieu. Essential character; 
receptacle almost naked ; down margined ; 
corollules of tlie disk four cleft ; in the ray 
scarcely any. There are fifteen species, 
mostly natives of the Cape. 
CORTUSA, in botany, a genus of the 
Pentandria Monogynia class and order. 
Natural order of Precim. Lysimachice, Jus- 
sieu. Essential character : corolla wheel- 
shaped, the throat having an elevated ring ; 
capsule one-ceiled, oval, five-valved at the 
end. There are twm species, C. matthioli, 
sends out many oblong smooth leaves, a 
little indented on the edges, forming a sort 
of head like tlie auricula; the peduncles 
come out in the centre of the leaves, rising 
about four inches high, which support an 
umbel of flowers, each on a slender short 
pedicle; they are of a flesh colour, and 
spread open like those of the auricula. 
Native of the Alps, Austria, Silesia, and 
Siberia, flowering in April and May. C. 
gmelini resembles the first, though the 
flowers are much smaller and the calyxes 
larger, this is a native of Siberia. 
CORVUS, the crow, in natural history, 
a genus of birds of the order Picoe. Ge- 
neric character : bill strong convex, sharp 
edged ; nostrils covered with bristly fea- 
thers turned back over them ; tongue carti- 
laginous and divided ; toes three forward 
and one backwainl, the middle one joined 
to the outer as far as the first joint. The 
greater number of this tribe of birds are to 
be found in almost eveiy country, and they 
are distinguishable by being gregarious, 
noisy, and prolific ; by being in general 
promiscuous feeders upon animal and vege- 
table substances, and by laying six eggs in 
nests built in trees. Some naturalists rec- 
kon 41 species ; Gmelin, however, speci- 
fies 48. Those most entitled to attention 
are the following. 
C. corax, the raven. This is the largest 
species of the genus, and weighs three 
pounds, and measures in length two feet, 
and in breadth four. It inhabits, in the 
old continent, from Greenland to the Cape 
of Good Hope, and, in the new, from Ca- 
nada to Mexico. It will destroy many ani- 
mals, such as chickens, ducks, and rabbits, 
and sometimes even lambs, for subsistence, 
but appears to delight more in the putrid 
remains of carcases, which are to be almost 
every where met with on a globe perpetu- 
ally changing its inhabitants. It may, in 
tins point of view, be regarded as highly 
pi'viceable, preventing the contagion of 
disease in a great degree, as well as the an- 
noyance of the senses. Its smell is parti- 
cularly acute, enabling it to discriminate its 
favourite repast, though at a great distance. 
Its caution is also extraordinary, as it will 
rarely venture within the reach of a gun, 
which it appears to distinguish with particu- 
lar sagacity. It is long lived, having been 
stated on respectable authority to live from 
40 to 60 years. It is easily familiarized, but 
is much addicted to concealing, in holes and 
bye places, things of no possible advantage 
to itself, and which the owner is much em- 
barrassed by the w'ant of. It may be taught 
to speak. In England it builds in trees ; 
in some other countries it builds in liie holes 
of rocks ; the duty of incubation is per- 
formed by the male during the day, and by 
the female in the night. The Greenlanders 
make use of it for food, and use its skin in 
the manufacture of garments, and its wings 
for brushes. Its feathers are split by tliem, 
and twisted into fishing lines. Tlie raven 
is the only species of its genus at present 
existing in Greenlatid, which may be con- 
sidered as an evidence of its robust and 
hardy constitution. In times of supersti- 
tion this was a bird of most important au- 
gury, whose sounds wete studied with the 
most profound attention, and frequently 
overwhelmed even the hero himself with 
terror. See Aves, Plate IV. fig. 4. 
C. corone, the carrion crow, is very si- 
milar to the raven in habits and colour, but 
is only about half its size. It is also not so 
frequently to be met with. 
C. frugilegus, the rook. Rooks are in 
France and some parts of Germany birds 
of passage, but in England they are sta- 
tionary. They live upon various worms and 
the erucae of insects, particularly those of 
the chafer, the extirpation of which is of ^ 
extreme service to the farmer, and far more 
than compensates for the depredations com- 
mitted by those birds themselves on the 
corn, which they thus usefully preserve front 
far more destructive plunder. Rooks are gre- 
garious birds, and, unless when breeding, re- 
gularly repair, sometimes in immense flocks, 
from the place where they roosted to what- 
ever spot of ground they may fix upon as 
their grand refectory, returning as the day 
closes in the same formidable body to their 
former lodging. In February they begin to 
build their nests, which they do in large so- 
cieties of many hundreds on the tops of 
high trees, particularly elms. 'J’o the cu- 
rious observer this process is a scene of 
considerable interest, exhibiting perpetual 
