_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
CORVUS CORONOÏDES, _Vig. & Horsf._
White-eyed Crow.
_Corvus Australis_, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. i. p. 151.?—Gmel. Syst.
Nat., vol. i. p. 365.?—Daud. Orn., tom. ii. p. 226.?
_South Sea Raven_, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. i. p. 363.?—Cook’s Last Voy.,
vol. i. p. 109.?—Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. iii. p. 7.?
_Corvus Coronoïdes_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 261.
_W̏ur-dang_, Aborigines of Western Australia.
_Ȍm-bo-lak_, Aborigines of Port Essington.
_Crow_ of the Colonists.
This species is so intermediate in size, in the development of the
feathers of the throat, in its voice, and in many parts of its economy,
between the Carrion Crow and Raven of our own island, that it is
difficult to say to which of those species it is most nearly allied; I
prefer however placing it among the true Crows to assigning it to a
companionship with the larger members of the family. Every part of
Australia yet explored has been found to be inhabited by it; some slight
difference however is observable between individuals from Port
Essington, Swan River, Van Diemen’s Land, and New South Wales, but these
differences appear to me to be too trivial to be regarded as specific;
specimens from Western Australia are somewhat less in size than those
procured in the other localities mentioned. When the birds are fully
adult, the colour of the eye is white and is the same in the whole of
them,—a circumstance which tends to strengthen the opinion I entertain
of their being one and the same species.
In Western Australia for the greater part of the year this bird is met
with in pairs or singly; but in May and June it congregates in families
of from twenty to fifty, and is then very destructive to the farmer’s
seed crops, which appears to be its only inducement for assembling
together, as it is not known to congregate at any other period. In New
South Wales and Van Diemen’s Land it is also usually seen in pairs, but
occasionally congregated in small flocks. At Port Essington, where it is
mostly seen in pairs, in quiet secluded places, it is not so abundant as
in other parts of Australia.
The stomach is tolerably muscular, and the food consists of insects,
carrion of all kinds, berries, seeds, grain, and other vegetable
substances.
Its croak very much resembles that of the Carrion Crow, but differs in
the last note being lengthened to a great extent.
Its nest, which is formed of sticks and of a large size, is usually
placed near the top of the largest gum-trees. The eggs, which are three
or four in number, are very long in form, and of a pale dull green
colour, blotched, spotted and freckled all over with umber-brown, the
blotches being of a much greater size at the larger end; they are about
one inch and three-quarters long by one inch and an eighth broad.
The whole of the plumage rich shining purplish black, with the exception
of the elongated feathers on the throat, which are slightly glossed with
green; bill and feet black; irides in some white, in others brown.
The Plate represents a male, killed in Van Diemen’s Land, of the natural
size.
[Illustration:
NEOMORPHA GOULDII: _G. R. Gray_.
_J. & E. Gould del et lith._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
NEOMORPHA GOULDII, _G. R. Gray_.
Gould’s Neomorpha.
_Neomorpha acutirostris_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part IV. p.
144.—Ib. Syn. Birds of Australia, Part I.
—— _crassirostris_, Gould in Ib., p. 145.—Ib. in Syn. Birds of
Australia, Part I.
—— _Gouldii_, G. R. Gray, List of Gen. of Birds, p. 12.
_E llia_, Aborigines of New Zealand.
Two specimens of this highly curious and anomalous bird, male and
female, wanting the legs and wings, which form part of the collection of
the Zoological Society of London, were described by me in 1836, when,
from the great difference in the form and length of their bills, I very
naturally concluded that they constituted two distinct species, many
genera even having been founded upon more trivial differences of
character. Mr. George Robert Gray, however, entertained a different
opinion from myself, and, while engaged upon his valuable little work
entitled “A List of the Genera of Birds,” conceiving they were sexes of
the same species, and that consequently both my names were
inappropriate, inasmuch as, if either were retained, it might lead to
some misconception, has been pleased to dedicate it to myself, a
compliment which I duly appreciate; and I have only to hope that this
change of the specific name may not be productive of any confusion on
the subject.
Through the kindness of a friend, who presented me with a specimen, I
brought to England the entire bird, and still more recently I have been
much gratified by the receipt of an additional pair, male and female,
direct from New Zealand. These, with some other very interesting birds,
were consigned to me by Dr. Dieffenbach, with a request that they should
be forwarded to the New Zealand Company, and it is to this body that I
am indebted for permission to describe and figure the female of this and
several other novelties sent home by Dr. Dieffenbach. In a letter
written from Port Jackson, this gentleman confirms the opinion of Mr. G.
R. Gray as to my _N. acutirostris_ and _crassirostris_ being the same
species; and further states, that “these birds, which the natives call
_E llia_, are confined to the hills in the neighbourhood of Port
Nicholson, whence the feathers of the tail, which are in great request
among the natives, are sent as presents to all parts of the island. The
natives regard the bird with the straight and stout beak as the male,
and the other as the female. In three specimens I shot this was the
case, and both birds are always together. These fine birds can only be
obtained with the help of a native, who calls them with a shrill and
long-continued whistle, resembling the sound of the native name of the
species. After an extensive journey in the hilly forest in search of
them, I had at last the pleasure of seeing four alight on the lower
branches of the trees near which the native accompanying me stood. They
came quick as lightning, descending from branch to branch, spreading out
the tail, and throwing up the wings. Anxious to obtain them I fired, but
they generally come so near that the natives kill them with sticks.
Their food consists of seeds and insects: of their mode of nidification
the natives could give me no information. The species is apparently
becoming scarce, and will probably soon be exterminated.”
The whole of the plumage black, glossed with green; the tail largely
tipped with white; bill horn-colour, much darker at the base; wattles
rich orange; legs and toes blackish horn-colour; claws light
horn-colour.
The figures represent a male and a female of the natural size, on the
_Corynocarpus lævigata_.
[Illustration: