Sub-family IV. Corvinæ (Crows and Magpies).--_Nucifraga_ (4 sp.), Palæarctic region to the Himalayas and North China; _Picicorvus_ (1 sp.), the Rocky Mountains and California; _Gymnokitta_ (1 sp.), Rocky Mountains and Arizona (Plate XVIII., Vol. II., p. 128); _Pica_ (9 sp.), Palæarctic region, Arctic America, and California; _Cyanopica_ (3 sp.), Spain, North-east Asia, Japan; { 274}_Streptocitta_ (2 sp.), Celebes; _Charitornis_ (1 sp.), Sula Islands; _Corvus_ (55 sp.), universally distributed except South America and New Zealand, but found in Guatemala and the Antilles to Porto Rico; reaches the extreme north of Europe and Asia; _Gymnocorvus_ (2 sp.), Papuan Islands; _Picathartes_ (1 sp.), West Africa; _Corvultur_ (2 sp.), Tropical and South Africa.
Sub-family V. Fregilinæ (Choughs).--_Fregilus_ (3 sp.), mountains and cliffs of Palæarctic region from West Europe to the Himalayas and North China, Abyssinia (Plate I., Vol. I., p. 195); _Corcorax_ (1 sp.), Australia.
FAMILY 21.--PARADISEIDÆ. (19 Genera, 34 Species.)
GENERAL DISTRIBUTION. __________________________________/\__________________________________ / \ NEOTROPICAL| NEARCTIC |PALÆARCTIC | ETHIOPIAN | ORIENTAL | AUSTRALIAN SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS. -----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+------------ | | | | | -- -- -- --|-- -- -- --|-- -- -- --|-- -- -- --|-- -- -- --|1. 2 -- -- | | | | |
The Paradiseidæ, or "Birds of Paradise," form one of the most remarkable families of birds, unsurpassed alike for the singularity and the beauty of their plumage. Till recently the family was restricted to about eight species of the more typical Paradise birds, but in his splendid monograph of the group, Mr. Elliot has combined together a number of allied forms which had been doubtfully placed in several adjacent families. The various species of true Paradise birds, having ornamental plumes developed from different parts of the body, are almost wholly confined to New Guinea and the adjacent Papuan Islands, one species only being found in the Moluccas and one in North Australia; while the less typical Bower-birds, having no such developments of plumage, are most characteristic of the north and east of Australia, with a few species in New Guinea. The distribution of the genera according to Mr. Elliot's monograph is as follows:--