Plate CXLVI. Male and Female.
Feathers of the head and neck oval and blended; third quill longest; tail considerably rounded, a small space at the base of the lower mandible on each side bare; general colour black, with blue and purple reflections above, blue and greenish beneath. Young brownish-black, with the blue and purple reflections less brilliant.
Male, 16, 33, Female, 15, 31.
From the mouths of the Mississippi upwards to Natchez, and along the Atlantic to New York. Common. Resident in the Southern States. Columbia River.
Fish Crow, Corvus ossifragus, Wils. Amer. Orn. v. v. p. 27.
Corvus ossifragus, Bonap. Syn. p. 57.
Fish Crow, Corvus ossifragus, Nutt. Man. v. i. p. 216.
Fish Crow, Corvus ossifragus, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. ii. p. 268; v. v. p. 479.
GENUS II. PICA, Briss. MAGPIE.
Bill of moderate length, stout, considerably compressed; upper mandible with the dorsal line declinate and arched, the sides convex, the ridge narrow, the edges nearly straight and overlapping, the notches faint, the tip declinate, and rather sharp; lower mandible with the angle rather long and wide, the dorsal line ascending and slightly convex, the edges inclinate, the tip narrow. Nostrils basal, lateral, roundish, covered by narrow stiff feathers directed forwards. Head large, ovate; neck rather short; body compact. Legs of moderate length, strong; tarsus stout, compressed, with eight scutella; toes of moderate length, stout, first large, stronger; lateral nearly equal, third considerably longer. Claws strong, arched, compressed, acute. Plumage full, soft, blended. Wings of moderate length, much rounded, the first quill very short, extremely narrow and falciform, fourth and fifth longest. Tail very long, graduated. Digestive organs as in Corvus.
227. 1. Pica melanoleuca, Vieill. Common Magpie.
Plate CCCLVII. Male and Female.
Bill black; head, neck, fore part of breast and back black, glossed with green and blue; middle of the back greyish-white; scapulars white; smaller wing-coverts black, secondary coverts, alula and primary coverts splendent with green and blue; primaries black, glossed with green, their inner webs white, except at the end, and for some way along their margin; secondaries bright blue, changing to green, their inner webs greenish-black; tail splendent with bright green, changing to greenish-yellow, purplish-red, bluish-purple, and dark green at the end; breast and sides pure white; legs, abdomen, lower tail-coverts, and lower wing-coverts, black.