Birds of Britain 



is much stouter and broader and not so long and slender ; 

 its colour is black with a greenish gloss and not of a 

 purplish blue, and the feathers have white bases, while those 

 of the Eook are grey ; the bristles and feathers at the base 

 of the bill are never worn away as is always the case with 

 Kooks after their second moult. Length 19*5 in.; wing 

 13 in. In this country it is generally distributed where not 

 too strongly persecuted, becoming commoner in Scotland ; 

 but in Ireland it is very rare. 



THE HOODED CROW 



Corvus cornix, Linnseus 



The question as to whether this bird, which interbreeds 

 freely with the Carrion Crow where their ranges overlap, is 

 or is not a good species need not trouble us here. Suffice 

 it to say that in England it occurs numerously as a regular 

 winter immigrant, large numbers crossing the ]!^orth Sea 

 and arriving on our eastern coasts. Over the rest of 

 our islands its distribution is somewhat capricious. In 

 Wales and the western counties it is rare, whereas in 

 Ireland and Scotland it is well distributed and resident. 



In habits it resembles the Carrion Crow but is more 

 found on the sea-shore and estuaries than that species, 

 though it is also found in the wooded districts. The back, 

 shoulder, breast, and under parts are ashy grey, the rest of 

 the body being black as in the Carrion Crow, of which in 

 size and all other respects it is the exact counterpart. 



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