THE HOODED CROW 67 
it would be found scarcely to deviate from that of the preceding 
or the following. It is to be feared that this inaccurate application 
of names has done the Rook ill service; yet the two birds are 
totally distinct. Crows are solitary birds, rarely being seen 
in more than pairs together ; Rooks are eminently sociable. Crows 
shun the haunts of men; Rooks court the vicinity of his dwellings. 
Crows are carnivorous; Rooks feed principally on the grubs of 
beetles, worms, and noxious insects, rewarding themselves occa- 
sionally for their services by regaling on corn and fruits, but rarely 
touching carrion or molesting living animals. In appearance the two 
birds are much alike ; the Crow, nowever, is somewhat smaller, the 
beak is stouter at the point and encircled at the base with numerous 
short feathers, while the bill of the Rook is encroached on by a 
white membrane which is almost bare of feathers. Both are noted 
for their intelligence ; the Crow has been known to remove its eggs 
from its nest when apprehensive ot danger ; it was held in high 
consideration in the days of augury, and certain of its movements 
were considered to be indicative of changes in the weather. It 
builds its nest of sticks, and lines it with moss, straw, hair, and 
wool, and lays from four to six eggs. Like the Raven, it is a widely- 
diffused bird, and attains a great age, outliving (the ancients said) 
nine generations of men, showing great attachment to any spot in 
which it has once fixed its home, and suffering neither its own 
progeny nor any other large birds to nestle in its vicinity. 
This Crow is becoming more numerous of late in the close vicinity 
of London. It comes constantly to some of our suburban gardens. 
THE HOODED CROW, GREY OR ROYSTON CROW 
CORVUS CORNIX 
Head, throat, wings and tail black, the rest of the plumage ash-grey; tail 
rounded ; beak and feet black; iris brown. Length nineteen and a half 
inches ; breadth three feet two inches. Eggs bluish green, mottled with 
ash-grey and olive. 
THE Hooded Crow closely resembles the Carrion Crow, scarcely 
differing from it in fact except in colour. They are, however, per- 
fectly distinct species, and for the most part exercise their calling 
in separate haunts. In Norway Hooded Crows are very abundant, 
to the almost total exclusion of the Carrion Crow and Rook, and, 
though not congregating so as to form a society like the last-named 
bird, they may be seen simultaneously employed in searching for 
food in groups which collectively amount to a hundred or 
more. Though numerous in the winter at Newmarket Heath 
and Royston (where they are sometimes called Royston Crows), 
and annually resorting to many parts of the sea-coast, they rarely 
breed so far south. In the Isle of Man, the Orkneys, Hebrides, 
