THE CHOUGH. 33 



whitish, creamy -ye lloAv or very pale greenish ground-colour, 

 thickly-mottled and spotted sepia and yello\\-is]i-bro\vn markings 

 and underlying ashy blotches. Some boldly blotched and occa- 

 sionally A^ith black hair-line at big end. Average of 100 eggs, 

 39.4 X 27.9 mm. Breeding-season. — Begins late April (excep- 

 tionally April 10th) or early Maj'- in Ireland, and about three 

 weeks earlier in Spain. Incubation. — Lasts 17-18 days (W.-Bond), 

 18-20 days (Girtanner). Fledging -'period. — About 30 days. One 

 brood. 



Food. — Chiefly insects (coleoptera, chiefly dung-beetles and their 

 larvffi ; larvae of moths, etc), worms, and at times corn. Crustacea, 

 mollusca, arachnida, as ^\•eU as lizards and even smaU rodents 

 also recorded, but confirmation of last seems desirable. 



Distribution. — Great Britain. — Resident. Rapidly decreasing. 

 Breeds on parts of south-west coast of England ; some sea-cliffs 

 and a few places close to sea and in at least one locality inland in 

 Wales ; Isle of Man ; some I. Hebrides (especially Islay and Jura), 

 and one or t\A'0 places on mainland in south-west Scotland. Occurs 

 sporadically elsewhere. Ireland. — Resident on many sea-cliffs, 

 especially in west, and some inland cliffs, but decreasing. Absent 

 from east coast. 



Distribution. — Abroad. — Chaimel Islands, coasts of west France, 

 Alps, Spain, some Canary Islands, north Africa, Mediterranean 

 countries, Asia Minor, Syria, and mountains of central and north 

 Asia eastwards to China, southwards to Himalayas. 



[Note.— An example of the Alpine Chough, Pyrrhocorax graculv^ 

 (L.)nec auct., shot in Oxon- in 1881, had probably escaped from captivity 

 (c/. Saunders, p. 232).] 



Family STURNIDtE. 



Primaries ten, but first very short, though distinctly visible. 

 Without rictal bristles, nostrils free from feathers. Tongue flat, 

 not tubular. Tarsus behind with unbroken lamina. First plumage 

 different from that of adult in colour and sometimes in structure. 

 Nests in holes. Old World. 



Key to genera of family Sturnid^. 



(Head crested, back and abdomen rose-colour . . Pastor ad., p. 37 

 Head not crested, back and abdomen not rose- 

 coloiu' 2 



Back and abdomen glossy green-, purple-, or blue- 

 black Sturnus ad., p. 34 



Back and abdomen dark brown Sturrms juv., p. 35 



Back greyish earth-brown, abdomen buff . , . Pastor juv., p. 38 



D 



