116 A HANDBOOK OF EUROPEAN BIRDS. 
glossed with purple; dack, breast and abdomen pale rose- 
colour ; wings and tail-feathers black, glossed with steel-blue ; 
flanks and under tail-coverts bk@@k ; bill rose-coloured, blackish 
at base beneath ; legs dull brown, irides reddish-brown. Length 
8°5 inches ; culmen 0°85 ; wing 5; tail 2°7; tarsus 1:2. 
Adult Female (Summer): Similar to male, but is gener- 
ally duller and wears a shorter crest. 
Adult (Winter): Majority of the feathers pe 
with pale brown, otherwise similar to summer dress. 
Young in ‘first plumage: Above pale greyish-brown, 
lighter on rump and upper tail-coverts; without any crest ; 
wing and tail feathers dark brown with narrow pale margins ; 
beneath whitish, washed on chest and flanks with pale brown 
and on the former obscurely mottled with dusky brown; 
bill brown above, yellow beneath ; legs and feet pale brown. 
Distribution: Breeds in Southern Europe and occurs 
casually on migration in most countries in Central and North- 
ern Europe. Found in India in winter; rare in Africa. 
Habitat: Regions infected by locust, cultivated districts, 
hke the starling. 
Family CORVIDA. 
Genus PYRRHOCORAX. 
CHOUGH. v 
Pyrrhocorax graculus (Zz). 
Adult: Entire A/umage glossy black, with steel-blue reflec- 
tions, wing and tail feathers with a violet tinge ; dz//7 (long and 
decurved) legs and feet coral-red ; claws black, irides brown. 
eneth 15°5 to.16 inches; culmen 1°38 5-Wink 10°9 “tO T1254 
tail 5°5 ; tarsus 2. 
Immature Birds: Similar, but duller and less glossy ; bill 
and legs brownish-orange at first, assuming in the intermediate 
stage a reddish-orange, before becoming coral-red, as in adult. 
Distribution: Resident throughout most of the mountain- 
ous districts of Central and Southern Europe. Locally resident 
in Great Britain. 
Habitat: Rocky localities inland, or sea cliffs. 
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