FAMILY 20.--CORVIDÆ. (24 Genera, 190 Species.)
GENERAL DISTRIBUTION. __________________________________/\__________________________________ / \ NEOTROPICAL| NEARCTIC |PALÆARCTIC | ETHIOPIAN | ORIENTAL | AUSTRALIAN SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS. -----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+------------ | | | | | 1. 2. 3. 4 |1. 2. 3. 4 |1. 2. 3. 4 |1. 2. 3. 4 |1. 2. 3. 4 |1. 2. 3 -- | | | | |
{ 273}The Corvidæ, or Crows, Jays, &c., form an extensive and somewhat heterogeneous group, some members of which inhabit almost every part of the globe, although none of the genera are cosmopolitan. The true crows are found everywhere but in South America; the magpies, choughs, and nutcrackers are characteristic of the Palæarctic region; the jays are Palæarctic, Oriental, and American; while the piping crows are peculiarly Australian. The more detailed distribution of the genera is as follows:--
Sub-family I. Gymnorhininæ (Piping Crows).--_Strepera_ (4 sp.), and _Gymnorhina_ (3 sp.), are Australian only; _Cracticus_ (9 sp.), ranges from New Guinea to Tasmania (this is usually put with the Shrikes, but it has more affinity with the preceding genera); _Pityriasis_ (1 sp.), Borneo (an extraordinary bird of very doubtful affinities); _Grallina_ (1 sp.), Australia, is put here by Sundevall,--among Motacillidæ, by Gould.
Sub-family II. _Garrulinæ_ (Jays).--_Platylophus_ = _Lophocitta_ (4 sp.), Malaya; _Garrulus_ (12 sp.), Palæarctic region, China and Himalayas; _Perisoreus_ (2 sp.), North of Palæarctic and Nearctic regions; _Cyanurus_ (22 sp.), American, from Bolivia to Canada, most abundant in Central America, but absent from the Antilles; _Cyanocorax_ (15 sp.), La Plata to Mexico; _Calocitta_ (2 sp.), Guatemala and Mexico; _Psilorhinus_ (3 sp.), Costa Rica to Texas; _Urocissa_ (6 sp.), Western Himalayas to China and Formosa; _Cissa_ (3 sp.), South-eastern Himalayas to Tenasserim, Ceylon, Sumatra, and Java.
Sub-family III. Dendrocittinæ (Tree Crows).--_Temnurus_ (3 sp.), Cochin China, Malacca to Borneo (not Java); _Dendrocitta_ (9 sp.), the Oriental region to Sumatra, Hainan, and Formosa; _Crypsirhina_ (3 sp.), Pegu, Siam, and Java; _Ptilostomus_ (2 sp.), West, East, and South Africa.