394 
The Hifiory ^ANIMALS. 
Corvus cauda longa y roflro rubente , capite cceruleo . 
The long-tailed^ blue-headed Corvus, with a red beak, 499 &Q-PP+ 
H ♦ ♦ 
This is a very beautiful bird, and, though perfectly unlike to our magpy in colours, 
yet it fo greatly refembles it in fhape, that nobody would fail at fight to call it by that 
name ; it is of the bignefs of a common pigeon : the head is moderately large j the 
eyes are fmall, and their iris is hazel; there is a fmall naked fpace of a flefh colour 
round about them, and a little naked tubercle alfo, at lome little diftance above each: 
the beak is three quarters of an inch long; it is ftraight and tolerably ftrong $ both 
chaps are nearly equal in fize, and it is pointed, but not very acutely at the end : it is 
throughout of a bright and ftrong red, but the tip is deeper than any other part: the 
membrane which inverts it’s bale is alfo red, and the nortrils which ftand in the 
upper part of this are fmall and roundifh, and are covered by little twifted plumules. 
The head and neck are of the moft beautiful fky blue; the back wings and tail are 
of a very deep colour, approaching to black, but with fome blue, and alio a cart of 
greenifh in it: the bread: and belly are of a fnow white. 
The wings are fihort, fo that the bird flies in a noify, fluttering manner, but yet 
very fwiftlv : the long feathers are twenty in each, and of thefe the third and fourth 
are the longeft; they are all of a deep black, but there is fome flying tinge of bluirti 
thrown over the whole wing. 
The tail is very long, and is compofed of twelve feathers, and in all refpe&s exact¬ 
ly refembles that of the magpy : it is throughout of a blackifh colour, but with a fly¬ 
ing tinge of a mixed blue and green over it. 
The legs are moderately long and flender j they are of a fine bright fcarlet, and 
the feet are of the fame colour, only a little paler, or more dead : the toes are long 
and flender; the claws are very long and {harp, and are of a coal black j that of the 
hinder toe is much longer than any of the others. 
This fpecies is a native of China, and of fome other parts of the Eaft j it is much 
efteemed by the natives, and is taught to imitate the human voice; the wild notes are 
not difagreeable : fcarce any of the writers on thefe fubje&s have mentioned it. Charle- 
ton, in his Onomafticon Zoicon, mentions a bird under the name of Pica caudata 
Indica feu Japonenfis, which may probably be the fame with this fpecies; but there 
is not enough faid to aflfure us of it. No other writer feems to have had any notion 
of fuch a fpecies. 
Corvus fufco fubrubeus capite albido . 
The brownijh Corvus , with a whitijlo head. 
This fpecies as remarkably refembles the common jay in it’s figure and fhape, as the 
former does the magpy, but it is fmaller j it is of the fize of a fieldfare: the head is 
large, in proportion to the body, and is rounded at the fides, but fomewhat deprefled 
on the crown : the eyes are fmall, and their iris is of a fiery red j they are furrounded 
with a naked {kin, and there are a couple of naked tubercles, one on each fide the 
head, a little above them : the beak is fhort but ftrong, and is obtufe at the point, and 
both the chaps are of the fame length : the whole beak is of a pale whitifh-brown, and 
the membrane which covers the bafe of it is of a bluifh-grey : in this ftand the nof- 
trils j they are large, round, and there grow a great number of fhort and rtiff bridles 
about them : the tongue is fhort and bifid at the end, and the infide of the mouth is 
of a pale yellowifh or lemon colour. 
r The head is of a very pale whitifh-brown : the neck is of a fomewhat darker 
brown, and the bdck and fhoulders are of a deeper brown, with a tinge of red in it: 
the 
