576 BRITISH BIRDS. 
PYRRHOCORAX GRACULUS. 
THE CHOUGH. 
(Pxate 16.) 
Coracia coracia, Briss. Orn. ii. p, 3 (1760), 
Corvus graculus, Linn, Syst. Nat. i. p. 158 (1766) ; et auctorum plurimorum— 
Schlegel, (Bonaparte), (Cabanis), (Fritsch), (Heuglin), (Sharpe), (Dresser), &c. 
Corvus eremita, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 159 (1766). 
Gracula pyrrhocorax, Scop. Ann. I. Hist. Nat. p. 42 (1769, nec Linn.). 
Coracias montana, Gerini, Orn. Meth. Dig. ii. p. 38, pl. clii. (1769). 
Pyrrhocorax graculus (Linn.), Tunst. Orn. Brit. p. 2 (1771). 
Corvus docilis, Gel. Reis. Russl. iii. p. 365, pl. 39 (1774). 
Graculus eremita (Linn.), Koch, Syst. baier. Zool.i. p. 91 (1816). 
Fregilus graculus (Linn.), Cuv. Regne An. i. p. 406 (1817). 
Coracias erythroramphos, Vieill. N. Dict. d’ Hist. Nat. viii. p. 2 (1817). 
Fregilus europeeus, Less. Traité, p. 824 (1831). 
Fregilus erythropus, Swains. Classif. B. ii. p. 268 (1837). 
Coracias gracula (Linn.), Gray, Gen. B. ii. p. 321 (1846). 
Fregilus graculus, var. orientalis, Dybowshki, Journ. Orn. 1868, p. 332. 
Fregilus graculus, var. brachypus, Swink. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1871, p. 383. 
The Chough is another of those birds that are becoming rarer in our 
islands from no apparent cause. The encroachment of man, as Mr. Gray 
justly remarks, can scarcely be a reason for its disappearance; for the 
bird’s haunts are practically inaccessible and are usually places far 
removed from his industries. It is, however, worthy of note that most 
observers agree that the Chough’s decrease has been marked by an increase 
of another rock-bird, the Jackdaw; but whether this be merely a coinci- 
dence, or an instance of the weak being driven off and replaced by the 
strong, is a matter for investigation. Formerly the Chough bred in many 
inland localities in England; but now it is only known to frequent a few 
favoured spots on the coast. Years ago the bird bred on almost all the 
suitable cliffs of the south coast ; but at the present day most of its breed- 
ing-stations are deserted. It still breeds in Cornwall, the north of Devon, 
on Lundy Island, and at many places on the Welsh coast, in Glamor- 
gan, Pembroke, Anglesey, Flint, Denbigh, and possibly on the rocks 
of the Calf of Man. On the east coast of England, More states (‘ Ibis,’ 
1865, p. 1382) that a few pairs were known to nest near Fast Castle in 
Berwickshire, and Hancock corroborates the statement, whilst in the 
Channel Islands the bird, although local, still breeds. In Scotland it 
appears to have been much commoner quite recently than at the present 
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