CROWS. 



159 



horsehair and a Httle wool, whereon the female deposits four 

 eggs. 



Of all birds, some members of the Crow family are the most 

 social ; for although many others live in companionship during 

 the greater part of the year, yet when the period of incubation 

 arrives they generally separate and disperse. With the Rooks, 



Fig. 84.— The Rook (Connis Jnigilegus). 



however, the social instinct is permanent, and they form aerial 

 villages, fabricated on the summits of the loftiest trees, and rear 

 their young in a scene of perpetual bustle and excitement. Their 

 attachment to these spots is very remarkable, and has frequently 

 given rise to obstinate battles between the last possessors and a 

 stranger flock that has attempted to usurp the domain. 



The type of the race — 



The Raven {Corvus Co7-ax), is the largest and most powerful of all the 

 CorvidcC, the adult male measuring about twenty inches in length. It has a 

 long and strong bill of a black colour ; the feathers springing from the base of 

 the upper mandible, and covering the nostrils, are about an inch and a half 

 long. This bird is found in all parts of the northern hemisphere, extending 

 Its range even into the frozen regions of the Arctic zone. It is usually an 



