12 A PRACTICAL HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



Juvenile. — Whole head and. throat black-brown with faint 

 greenish gloss ; tibial feathers and upper tail-coverts black- 

 brown ; back of neck, mantle, back, and rump more brownish-, 

 less bluish-grey than adult, and with small brown tips to feathers ; 

 breast, belly, and under tail-coverts like upper-parts but without 

 brown tips ; tail, wings, and wing-coverts like adult but browner 

 and with less gloss. 



First winter and summer. — Like adult but tail, wings, and 

 wing-coverts browner and with less gloss, especially in summer, 

 but apparently never becoming so brown as many specimens of 

 Rooks and Carrion-Crows. The juvenile body-plumage and 

 majority of lesser and median wing-coverts are moulted from Aug. 

 to Oct., but not tail- and wing-feathers or rest of wing-coverts. 



Measurements arj^ Hructure. — ^ wing 203-332 mm., tail 

 170-185, tarsus 51-61, bill from nostril 31-40, depth at angle of 

 lower mandible 16-20 (12 measured). $ wing as male. Wing- 

 formula exactly as Carrion-Crow, and other structure similar. 



Soft parts.- — Bill, legs, and feet black ; iris dark brown (adult), 

 greyish-blue (young). 



Characters and allied forms. — C. c. sardonius (Sardinia and 

 Corsica) is smaller, C. c. sharpii (Siberia, Turkestan, Persia, 

 and perhaps Egypt) is paler grey, C. c. capellanus (possibly distinct 

 species, not subspecies) (Persian Gulf), is much larger, and 

 white rather than grey. Grey of body is unmistakable specific 

 character. 



Hybrids. — Between C. comix and C. corone these exhibit every 

 intergradation of colour, and are fertile inter se. 



Field-characters. — Grey mantle and under-parts prevent any 

 confusion with Carrion-Crow or Eook. 



Breeding-habits. — Breeds sometimes in tree, but often in low 

 bush on side of steep bank, or on ledge of cliff ; occasionally among 

 heather on low islets in lochs. Nest. — Strongly built of sticks, 

 heather-twigs, seaweed-stems, moss, and earth, lined wool, hair, 

 and sometimes feathers. Saxby records large bones in foundation 

 in Shetlands. Eggs. — Usually 4-6, very rarely 7 ; much resemble 

 Carrion-Crow's ; ground-colour varying from light blue to deep 

 green, generally blotched and spotted over whole surface Avith 

 shades of umber-brown, and underlying ashy shell-marks. Some 

 have only few markings on blue ground ; one light-coloured egg 

 in clutch not uncommon. Erythristic variety recorded once or 

 twice. Average size of 100 eggs, 41.2 x 29 mm., slightly smaller 

 than Carrion-Crow's. Breeding-season. — End March and April. 

 Incubation. — Shared by both sexes ; lasts 18-19 days. Eggs 

 incubated as laid. One brood. 



Food. — ^Very varied, including carrion of all kinds, wounded birds, 

 small mammals, enormous quantities of eggs of many birds 



