CORVID^. 



245 



THE HOODED CROW. 



CoRVUS coRNix, Linnaeus. 



This bird, often called the Grey or Royston Crow, is a regular 

 and numerous visitor to England, especially the eastern districts, 

 from October onwards ; but as a rule it departs in spring, though 

 instances are on record of its having remained to breed, and cases 

 of hybridism with the Carrion-Crow are not infrequent in the 

 north. In Wales it is rare, but in the Isle of Man it nests 

 annually. On the mainland of Scotland it is only too abundant, 

 predominating in the north and west, and becoming the represen- 

 tative form in the Outer Hebrides, Orkneys and Shetlands. In 

 Ireland also it is common, and increasing, especially in the south. 

 The majority of the large numbers found in our eastern dist/icts 

 arrive from the Continent, and apparently from Scandinavia. 



In the Faeroes the Hooded Crow is resident, and it occasionally 

 visits Iceland. In Scandinavia, Finland, Northern Russia, and East 

 Prussia it is common, migrating from the higher latitudes in autumn, 

 at which season large flocks pass over Heligoland and winter in 

 Northern Germany west of the Elbe. These, as a rule, take their 

 departure in March, although some occasionally remain to inter- 

 breed with the Carrion-Crow. Colonies of the Hooded Crow are 

 dotted about Central Germany, are frequent in Galizia, and extend 



