THE HOODED CRO^S-. 



255 



now had a taste of the sweets of liberty, cautiously cliulod all his attempts ; aud suddenly 

 glancing his eye on his distant companions, mounted In the air after them, soon overtook 

 and mingled with them, and was never afterwards seen to return. 



THE HOODED CROW.* 



Like the rook, this bii'd associates in numerous flocks, and is, perhaps, still more 

 familiar with the havmts of man, preferring, especially in winter, the vicinity of our 

 farms and hamlets, aud picking up its food in the kennels aud dunghills. Like the 

 rooks also in several countries, it changes its abode twice a year, appearing in flocks in 

 the middle or at the end of autumn, and departing in a northerlj' direction about the 

 beginning of spring. It visits the south of England in October, or the beginning of 

 winter, arriving and departing ^vith the woodcock, and retiring north, to breed, in the 

 beginning of April. In the northern parts of the island it is more frequent than in the 

 south ; and in the Orkneys, Hebrides, and Shetland Islands, it is tbe only genuine crow, 

 the rook and carrion being there iniknown. In these districts, and in some parts of 

 Scotland and Ireland, it is resident throughout the year. "Where opportmiities offer, 

 it breeds in the pines and other large trees, in default of which it nestles in the cavities 

 of rocks. 



The female, which is rather smaller than the male, and of less lively hues, usually lays 

 four, five, or six eggs, of a greenish-blue, marked with many spots of blackish-brown. 

 It pairs during the whole of the br&ediug season ; and both parents are much attached 

 to their offspring. They are remarked for their double cry, of which one is hollow, and 

 well kno^Ti, and the other shrill, and somewhat resembling the crowing of a cock. 

 "\^Tien other food is wanting, they will eat cranberries and other mountain fruits ; in 

 open fertile coimtries, they live much on grain, worms, and carrion ; but they often 

 resort to the sea-shores, and prey on the various animal matters thrown up by the tide. 

 Frisch observes, that they are expert at picking fish-bones, and that, when water is 

 discharged from ponds, they quickly perceive the fish which are left in them, aud lose no 

 time in darting on them. They not only attack the eyes of lambs and diseased sheep, 

 but of horses that have got entangled in bogs. In the Faroe Islands, where they 

 aboimd, they are particulai-lj^ mischievous, picking the seed from the fields, digging \vp 

 the newly-planted potatoes, destroying the barley before it is ripe, aud carrying off 

 goslings and ducklings, or the fish which is hung up to di-y, to their young. In some 

 parts of these islands, they assemble to about the nxunber of twelve hundred in one jjlace, 

 and at one time, as if by concert. A few of the congregation sit with drooping heads, 

 others seem as grave as judges, and others again are verj^ bustling and noisy. The 

 meeting breaks up in the course of an hour ; and it is not micommon to find one or two 

 dead on the spot. These, according to the insinuation of Landt, are either criminals 

 purmhed for their offences, or invalids that have died of some disorder. Low observes, 

 tbat in the Orlmeys the}'' meet together in spring, as if to deliberate on the imjjortant 

 concerns of summer, and, after flying about in this collected state for eight or ten days, 

 separate into pairs, and betake themselves to the mountains. 



* Conus Cornis. — Linn. 



