[Three Hundred Animals Contents]
IS much less than the crow. He has a large head and long bill, proportionally with the bigness of his body. The colour of the plumage is black, but on some parts inclining to a bluish hue; the fore part of the head is of a deeper black. He feeds upon nuts, fruit, seeds, and insects; and builds in ancient castles, towers, cliffs, and all desolate and ruinous places. The female lays five or six eggs, lesser, paler, and marked with fewer spots than those of the crows. This bird may be taught to imitate the voice of man.