SKETCHES OF EUROPEAN ORNITHOLOGY. 
405 
Torcol ordinaire, Fr. —Torcicollo, It. —Wendehals, G. —The male and female of 
this elegant species, one of the earliest of our Summer-visitants, and the constant 
precursor of the joyous and welcome Cuckoo, are here represented with extra¬ 
ordinary spirit and effect. The female is seen emerging from the hollow of a 
tree, in which she may be supposed to have deposited her pure-white eggs. The 
only defect of the figures is, that they are considerably larger than natural. The 
principal food of this interesting bird—hence frequently termed the Emmet Wry¬ 
neck—is the Ant and its larva; which are seized, with great velocity and 
unerring aim, by the protrusion of its long and extensile tongue. It is nearly 
allied, in structure and habits, to the Woodpecker genus. 
The Magpie, Pica candata (Corvus pica, of Linnaeus, — Pica melanoleuca , of 
later ornithologists),—la Pie, Fr. —Gazzera commune, It. —Gartenkrahe, G. —Of 
this most beautiful of all the family of the British, or even European, Corvidce , 
we have yet met with but one delineation, whether graven or drawn, true to the 
life. Turn, gentle reader, to the ninety-second page of the first volume of good old 
Bewick ; and there you will behold the bold, impudent, and mischievous Pie, 
with tail erect, in all his glory. The representations of the bird by Lewin, 
Donovan, and Selby, are perfect failures. In the forlorn, sombre, sedate, and 
melancholy figure of Werner, we recognize, only by the aid of the appended 
type, the sprightly friend and associate of our school-boy days. Nor even with 
the Magpie of Mr. Gould, powerfully and splendidly coloured as it is, are we 
quite satisfied. The attitude of the bird is not natural; and there is some 
striking defect, more readily to be appreciated than particularized, in the form 
and colouring of the head. The expression of the bold, and bright, and wicked 
eye is, however, admirably given. Pica , although clearly distinguised by the 
illustrious Ray, having only of late been formally severed from the Corvus genus, 
we here present a sketch of the generic characters, as traced by Selby and Gould. 
Beak strong, compressed laterally, slightly arched, and hooked at the tip. 
Nostrils basal, open, protected by a covering of bristly feathers directed forwards. 
Feet with three toes before and one behind, entirely divided. Tarsus longer than 
the middle toe. Wings rounded. First quill-feather very short; fourth and 
fifth longest. Tail long, graduated; its two middle feathers projecting beyond 
the rest. The “ saucy Madge” constitutes, at present, the only European species 
of the new genus. The specific designation, caudata , is obviously inapposite; as 
all the exotic congeners of our favourite Pie, we presume, sport tails. Melanoleuca 
will be also, probably, objected to, by the mere fastidious reformer, on the score 
of its Greek origin. Why, then, not substitute for it an equally expressive and 
more appropriate epithet derived from the Latin,— Pica nigro-alba , or nigralba , 
the Black-and-white Pie. 
Plate x. comprehends two figures representing different species of the Red- 
3 g 2 
