Case 104. 



CHOUGH [Pyrrhocorax graculus). 

 Local name : Red legged Crow. 



The Chough, or Red-legged Crow as it is sometimes called, is resident 

 among sea-cliffs in Ireland, the west of Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, 

 Devon and Dorsetshire, but there are no suitable places nearer to 

 Liverpool than Anglesea and the Isle of Man. It is of sedentary habits 

 and rarely wanders far inland. The nest is generally placed in holes 

 in cliffs or in caves. It is made of sticks and stems of heather and is 

 lined with wool and hair. The eggs are three to six in number and 

 are creamy white in colour, with greatly varying grey underlying marks 

 and brown spots (see British Bird Egg Cabinet, drawer 5). 



Case 105. 



JACKDAW {Corvus monedula). 



A resident generally distributed over the British Islands and 

 abundant throughout Lancashire and the local area. It breeds in 

 steeples and old beeches or oaks and is equally at home on cliffs, ruins, 

 rabbit-warrens or old trees in wooded districts. Its nest consists of 

 sticks, with smaller twigs and wool, or other soft materials forming 

 the bed. Sometimes when built in hollow trees or in towers the 

 accumulation of sticks is immense in order to raise the surface to 

 within a convenient height from the entrance, instances being on 

 record where the mass of sticks was 10 to 12 feet in height. The eggs, 

 six in number, are bluish-green, marked with greyish or brownish spots 

 (see British Bird Egg Cabinet, drawer 5). 



Case 106. 



RUFF (Pavoncella pugnax). 



The Ruflt is now chiefly a migrant, but in the fens and marshes of 

 the eastern counties it used to breed. It mostly visits our eastern 

 and southern coasts and is sometimes found on inland waters. The 

 males vary remarkably in plumage, and the breast shield and ruff,, 

 which the bird dons at the period of the nesting season, is one of the 

 most striking nuptial garments of any bird in the world. A tuft of 

 long rough grass is invariably chosen for the nest, which is deep and 

 always well concealed. The eggs, four in number, vary much in 

 markings. The ground is generally olive, boldly spotted and blotched 

 with rufus-brown. In the group the artist portrays a very 

 characteristic scene where several males are engaged in deadly combat 

 for possession of the female, who sits calmly by, awaiting the issue 

 of the fight. 



