HOODED CROW 301 



but nevcrtheles* they may attain considerable dimensions. Thus, roosts 

 of many hundreds are recorded in the Outer Hebrides, where the birds 

 generally sleep on the ground among heather on islands in lochs. Else- 

 where they roost on trees and on the Continent roosts on high buildings 

 are also recorded. 



DISTRIBUTION 



[Acknowledgment is made of assistance derived in the compilation of this section 

 from the sections on "Distribution Abroad" by F. C. R. Jourdain and on "Migra- 

 tion" by N. F. Ticehurst in the Handbook of British Birds (1938).] 



Breeding range. — Breeds in the more northerly part of Scotland and 

 in Ireland ; in England only occasionally and chiefly in the eastern coun- 

 ties. Outside the British Isles it breeds from the Faeroes, Scandinavia, 

 Finland, and north Russia south to Denmark, Germany east of the Elbe, 

 Czechoslovakia, western Yugoslavia, Italy, Sicily, Austria, Hungary, 

 southern Russia to the Caucasus, and north Persia. Allied races breed 

 in Corsica, Sardinia, the Balkans to Palestine and Egypt, southeastern 

 Russia (?), Cyprus, Crete, Iraq, Iran, western Siberia, etc. 



Winter range. — Birds from the colder parts of the range migrate at 

 the approach of winter and spread southwestward into western Germany, 

 the Netherlands, Belgium, and France and to eastern and south- 

 eastern England. These winter visitors in western Europe are common- 

 est in the coastal districts. Birds in the more southern parts of the 

 range are sedentary. 



Spring migration. — Hooded crows that have wintered in England 

 leave the east coast between mid-March and the third week of April, 

 with extreme dates as early as mid-February or as late as May 24. The 

 Atlantic coasts of France are forsaken about the same time. Great 

 numbers pass over Helgoland and the Kurische Nehrung, referred to 

 more fully in the next section. At the latter place the movement begins 

 in February or March according to weather conditions and lasts well 

 into April, while the passage of smaller numbers continues until May. 



Fall migration. — The most famous locality for the passage of hooded 

 crows is the Kurische Nehrung, the narrow strip of land about 50 miles 

 long separating the Baltic from the Kurisches Hafif in east Prussia 

 and on which is situated the ornithological station of Rossitten. Here 

 almost incredible numbers pass on the fall migration, and as the birds 

 travel by day and commonly quite low down the migration is very spec- 

 tacular. According to Niethammer (1937) it begins about September 

 22 and lasts to the end of November, with the peak from October 14 

 to 25. The young birds appear first and then the adults. Frequently 

 according to weather conditions later waves may pass even until Jan- 



