CHOUGH 



599 



yew-tree, at others disappearing into trees farther off. The\' were not 

 all alike in plumage, some being darker than others ; these last were 

 probably females. The nutcracker on the rare occasions when it has 

 previously visited Great Britain has appeared in the autumn, generally 

 in October, so that this little party seems to have come somewhat 

 earlier than usual. In general habits, especially as regards the nature 

 of its food, the nutcracker is very similar to jays and magpies. 



Chouffh ^^^ contrast between the glossy black plumage and 



(Pyrrhoeorax ^^^ brilliant cherry-red of the legs, and long, pointed, 

 graeulus). ^"^ downwardly curved beak renders the chough, or 

 Cornish chough {^Graailus graeulus of some authors), 

 an unmistakable bird. The hen is distinguishable externally from the 

 cock only by her somewhat inferior size ; but birds of the year have 

 the legs and beak dull 

 orange till September, 

 after which time they 

 assume the cherry-red of 

 their parents. The home 

 of the chough is either 

 sea-cliffs or inland 

 mountains, and in such 

 situations this bird is to 

 be found from China 

 through Central Asia 

 and Persia to the Medi- 

 terranean countries and 

 central Europe, with vo,.,-e, , t- ._ . : : _; 



11 . . CHOUGH. 



local extensions some- 

 what farther north. In Great Britain it was formerly found inland, 

 as well as on the cliffs of Sussex and the Isle of Wight, but 

 it is now restricted to the cliffs of Dorsetshire, Cornwall, north 

 Devonshire, Wales, the Isle of Man, some of the Scottish isles, 

 inclusive of the Hebrides and Skye, and Ireland. In its few remain- 

 ing English haunts the bird is almost yearly becoming scarcer, and it 

 does not appear to have been seen for some years in the Hebrides ; 

 in Ireland it was till recently common and resident on most of the 

 precipitous coast-cliffs, as well as on some of the scarped faces of 

 inland mountains, and indeed was highly characteristic of Irish cliff- 

 scenery, but its numbers, owing to the raids of egg-collectors, now 

 appear to be rapidly decreasing. 



