THE PERCHING BIRDS. 183 



of this bird enable it to wheel with rapidity. The nest, a 

 careless mass of sticks and feathers, is placed in some hole 

 in the cliffs, or in steeples, hollow trees, or chimney-stacks. 

 It has, though rarely, been recorded in the open. Eggs, 

 3 to 6, i*^ inch or less; greenish, with grey spots. I 

 had two or three in which the spots were all but invisible. 



The Hooded, or " Royston," Crow breeds commonly in 

 Scotland and Ireland, but to the greater part of England 

 Hooded and Wales it is only a winter visitor, though 

 Crow. a f ew are known to breed. It is distinguished 

 from its closely allied relative the carrion-crow by the 

 grey mantle and breast, though the birds breed so freely, 

 the hybrids being to some extent fertile, that the number 

 of intermediate forms makes identification no easy matter 

 in every case. The name given to the other crow, by the 

 way, does not point to any gentler tastes on the part of 

 the present species, for it will eat carrion with any of 

 them, and is among the worst offenders of the whole 

 robber gang, being very partial to the eggs of grouse. It 

 also eats molluscs. The hooded crow is perhaps less 

 partial, on the whole, to the sea -shore than the rest. It 

 nests mostly some way inland ; the nest is of sticks, with 

 a lining of wool. It is placed indifferently in high trees 

 or rocks, or on the ground. Eggs, 3 to 5, i^ inch; 

 green, mottled with brown. 



Unlike the last, the Carrion Crow is commoner in Eng- 

 land than in either Scotland or Ireland. It lacks the lighter 

 Carrion plumage of the last bird, and the long bristles 

 Crow. a t the base of the bill are always conspicuous. 

 In addition to its love for carrion, preferably in an ad- 

 vanced stage of decay, the bird is a great poacher of game 

 and poultry, and will even attack lambing ewes. It nests 

 late in spring, not, like the rook, in colonies, but singly. 

 The nest is softly lined, otherwise resembling that of the 

 rook. Eggs, 3 to 5, i^ inch ; pale green, with dark spots. 



