ROOK. 45 
The nest is composed of large sticks, cemented with clay, 
mixed with tufts of grass, and is lined with roots. 
The, eggs, four or five in number, are of a pale green 
ground colour, blotted over with darker and lighter patches 
of yellowish and greenish brown: they vary much. 
Male; length, one foot seven or eight inches; iris, dark 
brown. The whole plumage is black, glossed with purple, 
particularly on the upper parts. The wings and tail under- 
neath have a tinge of grey. The first feather of the wing is 
three inches shorter than the second, the second one inch 
shorter than the fourth, which is the longest in the wing, 
the third is as much shorter than the fourth, as it is longer 
than the fifth. Legs, toes, and claws, bright black. 
The female is about one foot five or six inches in length: 
her plumage has less brilliancy than that of the male. Young 
birds resemble the female, but have at first feathers at the 
base of the bill. 
White, cream-coloured, and pied varieties of the Rook occa- 
sionally occur; one which was at first ‘of a light ash-colour, 
most beautifully mottled all over with black, and the quill 
and tail feathers elegantly barred,’. became of the usual hue 
after moulting. Malformations of the bill in this species have 
also been noticed; one is figured by Yarrell, in which the 
lower part is much elongated, projecting upwards; in another 
the peints of both were slightly crossed; and in another, they 
were greatly elongated, and much curved. 
