6o 



BIRDS OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE. 



and the crows especiall}^ are often to be seen on the 

 sea-shore searchincf for offal cast up by the waves, or for 

 molluscs and crabs left there by the recedincf tide. Like 

 the raven, they are very easily tamed, and will live a long 

 time, and breed in confinement. 



Hooded Crow. — Many naturalists are of opinion that 

 this bird is merely a local variety of the last, and assert 



that the two interbreed and 

 produce a fertile offspring, not 

 piebald, but exactly resem- 

 bling one or other of the 

 •^ ^ parents. If that be so, then 

 ^-> there can be no doubt as to 

 their s])ecific identity. The 

 bill, head, and neck of the 

 hooded crow are black ; the 

 back, breast, and lower \)a,vis 

 dark slate grey; but the wings 

 and tail are black, with a 

 brifrht blue tinue. In size 

 this bii'd equals the carrion 

 crow^ which it closel}' re- 

 sembles in its habits. 



Rook. — The well-known 

 rook is one of the " common 

 objects " of the country, nor is it even unknown in towns — 

 witness the colonies that still maintain their ground in 

 several parts of London. It is of a bluish black colour all 

 over, and is known by a bare circle round its bill, where 

 the skin is of a dull earthy colour, and much wrinkled or 

 corrugated, a peculiarity that w^as long supposed to be due 

 to the bird's habit of constantly digging in the ground for 

 worms and j^rubs, as the nestlings have feathers in the 

 same part. 



ii. 



y /(' lluodtd CroH\ 



