THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
speckled, and uniformly spotted all over with blackish-brown and olive-brown. 
Long ovals in shape. Smdace of shell fine, smooth and rather glossy. 41-43 
by 27-28 mm. 
Nest. A substantial structure of sticks and twigs, smaller and more neatly made than 
that of Gorvus eecilce. Lined with bark, hair, fur, etc. Dimensions over all, 
12 to 14 inches across by 9 inches in depth. Egg cavity, 6 to 7 inches across by 
nearly 4 inches deep. Nest is placed in a tree at heights varying from 20 to 60 
feet or more. 
Breeding-months. August to November. 
North described this very distinct species (on the East) from South-western 
New South Wales. 
A little later, Carter wrote from the North-west Cape, iVIid-west Australia: 
“ There are undoubtedly two resident species of Crows—one a large, powerfully 
made bird with heavy bill; the other smaller in everj’- way, and is, I think, 
C. henneUi. I hope to add a note on this later.” He added: “As mentioned 
in the earlier part of these notes, there are evidently two species of Crows occur¬ 
ring with us, but not the so-called Raven, and on Dr. E. Hartert and myself 
comparing the smaller Short-billed skins from my collection wuth Mr. A. J. 
North’s description of C. henneUi, we came to the conclusion that they are ^ 
referable to that species, which apparently, therefore, extends across the B 
Continent.” 
I*. 
Then Robert Hall recorded Corvus hennetti from the Townsend River, ' 
North-west Australia, collected by J. P. Rogers, noting “ Wing 1P3 inches.” I 
PI 
Macgillivray, from the Barrier Range, New South Wales, where both birds i 
breed, recorded: “ McLennan climbed to a Short-billed Crow’s {Corvus hennetti) f 
nest at a height of 40 feet up in one of the gums, and took five fresh eggs. This ^ 
is an average clutch, although six and even seven eggs are sometimes laid. 
The birds lay early—namely in August—so that nearly all of the nests examined 
by our party contained young birds or heavily incubated eggs. Not many 
Crows nest along the creek, as they mostly prefer the mulga on the hills, the 
leopard trees {Fliiidersia maculosa) or larger neelia {Acacia rigens) in the flat 
scrub. A tree from which a good look-out can be obtained is generally selected. 
They are wary birds, flying from the nest before one can closely approach it. 
The caU is very distinct from that of the Raven {Corona australis), being a harsher 
and shorter ‘ Gahr.’ I climbed to the nest of a Short-billed Crow {Corvus 
hennetti) in a black oak; it was small, not much larger than a Magpie’s nest, 
built of sticks and lined mth fine bark, feathers, and a little sheep’s wool. 
There were two eggs and a newly-hatched nestling. The eyes were not open; 
skin yellow, with a little dowm along the uhiar borders of the ^ving, the femoral 
and dorsal pterylse; the gape was pink. ... A Short-billed Crow’s 
nest was occupied by young birds. These nestlings are hatched with 
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