244 ROOK. 



Glasgow can, at this day, exhibit their rookeries 

 within their well-peopled bounds. 



We are not aware that the geographical range 

 of this bird has been attended to with an}^ more 

 precision than the last. In the British islands it 

 is generally distributed, preferring, however, the 

 cultivated districts, decreasing towards the north, 

 and being always least abundant in the alpine or 

 wooded mountainous regions. Out of Britain it 

 has been mentioned to be frequent in temperate 

 European regions, and to extend to Asia, and 

 according to the list in M. Temminck's Supple- 

 ment, is enumerated as a bird of Japan. 



The complete plumage of the Rook is, like ttiat 

 of the preceding, clean, glossy, and beautifuJ, a 

 clear black, with blue and violet reflections ; the 

 feathers of the head and neck, with their webs, 

 decomposed, and the texture loose and silky. 

 The greatest difference in form exists in the bill, 

 which is more tapering and slender towards the 

 point, formed for digging, rather than a wedge or 

 lacerating instrument. The nostrils are not covered 

 by the incumbent narrow feathers, and the base 

 of the bill and chin are bare, covered only by a 

 naked scaly skin. In the young birds, previous 

 to the first moult, the plumage on these parts is 

 similar to the other Crows, and the denudation 

 seems to be a very necessary provision when they 

 have to provide for themselves, occurring natu- 

 rally and not by wearing, and evidently intended 

 to prevent annoyance from wet soil, &c. adhering 

 to the feathers ; in the nestling state, and during 



