CORVIDiT:. 



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THE CHOUGH. 



Pyrrhocorax graculus (Linnreus). 



The Chough is not only a local but also, apparently, a very 

 capricious species ; localities formerly inhabited by it being aban- 

 doned, sometimes without any assignable reason. In England at the 

 present day it is not known to breed to the eastward of the cliffs of 

 Dorsetshire, while westward as far as Cornwall its distribution is by 

 no means general. In North Devon there are a good many small 

 colonies ; but in 1SS7 I found that it had almost disappeared from 

 Lundy Island, where it was formerly abundant, owing in a great 

 measure to the ravages of the Peregrine, which, in default of 

 Pigeons, is very partial to Choughs — especially the young. On the 

 sea-cliffs and also in some inland localities of AVales it is not unfre- 

 quent ; and it is resident in the Isle of Man, whence a pair or two 

 occasionally visit Cumberland and attempt to nest there. From the 

 Wigtonshire coast it has almost vanished, but it still breeds on Islay, 

 Jura, Skye, and other islands of Scotland, as well as on the main- 

 land. On the east side of Great Britain and inland it is chiefly of 

 accidental occurrence. In Ireland it is by no means rare on the 

 coast of Waterford and Cork, very abundant on the cliffs of Kerry, 



