C O R 
every thing in turn, both animal and vegetable; and, 
like that, will kill young ducks and chickens, and fuck 
eggs. It builds its nelt with art, making a thorny cover 
over the top, leaving a hole on the' fide for admittance ; 
lays fix or leven pale greenilh eggs, thickly fpotted with 
black. It is a crafty bird in every, (fate, and, if brought 
up young, becomes exceedingly familiar, and will talk a 
great many fentences, and will imitate every noife within 
hearing, like a parrot, but not lo plain. This fpecies is 
fometimes fubjedl to a variety found entirely white ; 
but like many of the preceding, it happens but rarely, 
and would rather feem to be a lufus natures. This bird 
is named in Greek y.io-cra, or y.trra, and on account of 
its variegated plumage, ttoixiAi? ; in Latin, pica, cijfa , 
and according to Come, avis p/nvia, (rain-bird;) in 
wretched modern Latin, ajacia ; in Spamih, pega, picata, 
pigazza ; and in Catalonia, grajfa ; in Italian, gazza, ra- 
gazza, aregazza., gazzuola, gazzara, pica,putta\ in Ger¬ 
man, aeloter, atzel, aegerji, agerlijler ; in Flemifh, aexter ; 
in Polifh, Jlroka ; in Swedilh, Jliata, Jknira, fiara .; in 
Danifh, Jitade ; in Norwegian, Jtiior, tunfugl. 
57. Corvuspiapiac, the African magpie. Thisistheonly 
fpecies of magpie found by Vaillant in Africa, which he 
met with in the mofrdiliant canton of the country of the 
Great Namaquois. The name piapiac feems analogous 
to the cry it utters in a wild ltate, the only one it is 
known to emit, and which it pronounces as diftinftly as 
man could do. Thefe birds perch on the tops of high 
trees, and are fometimes feen in flocks of about twenty. 
The males have a very long tail, longer than- the Eu¬ 
ropean magpie, but not fo thick, the quills being nar¬ 
rower and pointed. It flies fwifter and better, on ac¬ 
count of the length of the wing-quills in proportion to 
the weight of the body. Like our magpie, it builds its 
nefts on the top of tall trees, clofing it with thorns on 
every fide, except one fmall horizontal hole. The eggs 
are fix or eight in number, of a bluilh white, with fpots 
of brown, which are larger and more numerous to¬ 
wards the large end. Vaillant was allured by the la¬ 
vages, that this bird is feen only in certain parts of the 
year. He thinks it lingular, that, flying fo well, this 
fpecies has never found its way into countries nearer to 
the Cape, or even to the coniines of the Rio Grande ; 
but he never faw or heard of it in thofe parts. This 
magpie is of a glofly black, but not fo dark on the belly 
as on the back ; the primary wing-quills, and the lateral 
ones of the tail, have a (hade of brown. The feet and 
bill are perfectly black, like our European fpecies; and 
the eyes are nut-brown. The female is rather lefs than 
the male, and her tail is fhorter. In the collection of 
M. Ray de Breukelenvaard, at Amfterdam, is a varie¬ 
ty of this fpecies, faid to have come from Senegal, 
wjiich is very remarkable for the peculiarity of having 
a double quill in the tail ; this fecond quill arifes out 
of the fame tube, and is as long as the firft, but has no 
feathers upon it. 
58. Corvus ruber, the red-bellied magpie. Not 
knowing any thing of the manners and habits of this 
bird, which had never before been deferibed, but was 
examined by Vaillant, in the collection of M. Ray de 
Breukelenvaard, at Amfterdam, it is placed next to the 
African magpie, becaule it refembles it in ftiape of body 
and tail ; yet its bill is weaker than moft of the mag¬ 
pies. This fpecies is faid to come from the South Sea 
iflands ; it is about the fize of the common blackbird; 
but the tail is tapering, half as long again as the whole 
body, and has only eight quills, in which it feems to 
differ from any bird yet known. The upper part of the 
body, head, neck, fcapulars, and breaft, are of a gliften- 
ing black, with ffeel blue lhades in certain pofitions of 
the rays of light ; the two middle feathers of the wings 
are of a dark red ; the reft, and the tail, perfectly black. 
The feathers upon the belly, flanks, legs, and under the 
tail, are pale red, or flefh-colour, like the pewit; hence 
VOL. V, No, 269. 
V U S. ; . ' 245 
Vaillant calls it la pie d culotte de peau. The bill, feet, 
and claws, are black. 
,59. CorvusTemia, theTemiamagpie. This has greater 
affinity to tlie Englifti magpie than the preceding; but 
of its habits, modes of living, and even from what part 
of India it comes, we are entirely ignorant. This de- 
feription is from a lpecimen in the cabinet of M. Tern- 
minch, treafurer to the India company at Amfterdam ; 
and its name is formed from his. It is about the fize 
of a thrulh, but longer ; the tail is very long, and con- 
fifts of ten feathers ; the four middle ones are of equal 
length ; tiie others are fucceffively fhorter and fhorter, 
reprefenting a flight of fteps, which Vaillant calls ctage'e. 
The bill, feet, and claws, are Hack ; all the feathers on 
the body are long, foft, and filky to the touch ; by an 
indifferent light they appear black ; but have green or 
purple reflections, according as the rays of light fall 
upon them. The forehead and the fpace between the 
eyes and the bill are covered with minute feathers, fo 
clofe together as to be a dead black without any glofs or 
refleftion, like velvet. The wing-quills are blackifti ; 
the four middle quills of the tail are greenilh ; the reft 
have only their outer edges of that colour; fo that the 
under part of the tail is blackifli, and the upper part of 
a dull green. This bird was brought from Batavia ; 
but, as moft veffels going to and from the Indies touch 
there, it might have come originally from fame other 
part of the world. . 
60. Corvus rufus, the rufous magpie of Bengal. This 
is placed among the magpies on account of its exterior 
form, though it is not much larger than the great cine¬ 
reous Ihrike of Europe, which it refembles in many 
other refpe&s, and may be regarded as the connecting 
link between the magpies and the Ihrikes ; for thefe have 
much fimilarity, and hence Vaillant places them in fuc- 
ceflion. This bird is a native of Bengal. Vaillant calls 
it pie roitjfcy but the name it bears in its own country is 
not known, any more than its habits and modes of life ; 
fo that w’e can only deferibe its colours. The bill is the 
colour of horn, and very ftrong in proportion to the fize 
of the bird ; the head and neck are black inclining to 
brown, but flightly tinged with red; the reft of the 
plumage underneath, as far as the under-coverts of the 
wings, is fleflr-colour ; the mantle is umber-brown ; the 
croup and upper wing-coverts are of the fame light red 
as the belly ; the wing-quills are dark brown, the laft 
having their outer webs of a whitifh grey, and the fame 
colour prevails-over the fmall and large feathers which 
cover the wings. The tail confilts of ten quills, tapering 
like thofe of the common magpie; they are moftly a 
brown black on their exterior edges, the longer quills 
partaking more and more of light grey, fo that the two 
middle ones are alnroft entirely of that colour ; they all 
have a fpot at the extremity, red above, white under¬ 
neath ; the feet and nails are brown; the wings when 
doled extend not much beyond the origin of the tail ; 
the noftrils are covered with little feathers pointing for¬ 
wards, and there is a kind of hair at the corners of the 
mouth. 
61. Corvus lanius, the Ikrike-magpie. This is ftill 
fmaller than the preceding, and approaches nearer to 
the butcher-birds or Ihrikes, which lias occaftoned this 
compound name to be given to it. It is about the length 
of the cinereous (lirike, but thicker in the body. The 
deepeft black and the pureft white ornament its plum¬ 
age ; and, though thefe are the only colours, they are fo 
agreeably difpoled as to form one of the prettieft birds 
which adorn collections of natural hiftory. The head, 
neck, and breaft, are of a filming black ; the feathers on 
the upper part of the breaft are long and narrow, and lie 
loofely with their points over the pure white of the reft 
of the under part of the body, including the under tail- 
coverts ; the mantle is partly white ; the wings are black 
with white fpots; the croup and upper taii-coverts are 
