OOBVIH.K. 



*"T placr*. and the Unit may be 



to rathrr them up u Uie share expoees them. 



their nesU. 



with their weight as they sssinitiln to pick off the cock- 

 la their winged state. Where theae birds have been incon- 

 * deelrnyiil on aeoouat of the supposed damage which they 

 bed doeja, a total (kilur* of the crops has made the farmer glad to try 

 , jw~A again. The (tick-built nest contains four or five 

 blotched with dark greenish-brown ; these are 

 nsjirflsjiss palmed upon the nndieeeraing for plovers' eggs, but are 

 easily distinguished from them. Not that a rook's egg is by any 

 Masts bad, though far inferior in every respect to the other. The 

 maj. i, nr~* attentive to the female whilst she is sitting, and feeds 

 her aeaiduooaly ; both are very industrious in supplying their young, 

 and the akin under the tongue may at this season be often seen 

 dilated into a kind of pouch by the collected food. During the 

 they have great squabble* among themselves about 

 An account of one of their battles with the herons for 



on of a disputed territory is alluded to in the article 



AftDJu. They frequently visit their nest-trees in the autumn on 

 thrfr w T to roost in some distant wood, and come to them for the 

 purpose of repairing their nest, and setting about the business of 

 incubation early in March. 



The Rook is not without the power of mimicry granted BO largely 

 to the greater part of the true crows, is docile, capable of learning 

 amusing tricks, and becomes much attached to the kind hand that 

 |*Js it. It his been heard to imitate the note of a jackdaw 

 (Hewitaon) and the barking of dogs so perfectly that if the mimic 

 had been out of sight no ear could have discovered the deception. 

 (Macgillivray.) 



Varieties. White, pied, and cream-coloured. "A gentleman," 

 an the charming author of the ' History of Selbornc, " had two 

 milk-white rook* in one nest. A booby of a carter finding them 

 before they were able to fly, threw them down and destroyed them, 

 to the regret of the owner, who would have been glad to have pre- 

 I such a cariosity in the rookery. I saw the birds myself nailed 



against the end of a bam, and was surprised to find that their bills. 

 legs, feet, and claws were milk-white.' 1 These perhaps were perfect 

 JHn, and might so have continued ; but instances are not wanting 

 where the original light colour deepens into the usual sable with age. 

 Mr. Yarrell quote* Mr. Hunt, of Norwich, who states that a gentleman 

 of his acquaintance had in 1816 a young rook of a light ash colour 

 most beautifully mottled all over with black, and the quill and tail- 

 feather* elegantly barred ; but when the bird moulted it became a 

 jrt MaHr rook, and in this state was suffered to join its sable brethren 

 in the field*. Mr. Yarrell remarks that this agrees with his own 

 nlieei isliiini, and he adds that accidental varieties will generally bo 

 found to be comparatively small and weak bird*. As these young 

 birds increase in age and gain constitutional power, the secretions, he 

 observes, become perfect, and the plumage assumes it* natural 

 colours, whilst the assumption of white feathers by old birds is 

 probably the effect of the convene operation of the physiological law. 

 (Briti* Birds. 1 ) 



It ha* been, and indeed still is with some, a question whether the 

 loss of the feathers at the base of the beak in the young rook upon 

 the Ant moult, is or is not a specific distinction, or merely the result 

 of denudation from plunging the bill into the ground in search of 

 prey. It must be borne in mind that some foreign birds resemble 

 the rook in this particular. Mr. John Blackwall's observations 



Baseanrhns in Zoology') touching this matter are full of interest. 



e refer* to a rook preserved in the Manchester Museum, which has 

 Ha mandible* onmsj near their extremities, but so slightly that the 

 malformation could not hare interfered materially with the mode of 

 Itrimiriisf food usually resorted to by rooks, as is clearly shown by 

 the dernded sUU of the nostrils and anterior part of the head, both 



(' 

 H 



of which anc 



i of feathers. But he notices another 



in the paeMMion of Mr. R. Wood of Manchester, which has 

 ibles greatly elongated and much carved. " Now," says 

 BUckwall, - it is evident that the bird poiisering a bill thus 

 Mid not thrust it into the ground in srarch or worms and 

 f faMecta, as the rook U known to do habitually ; and accord- 

 ingly the nlmasgs at the base of the bill of this individual, and the 

 briMly fsathrs which cover iu nostrils, are very conspicuous, not 

 having untamed the slightest injury. The opinion entertained by 

 many persons that the naked condition of the nostrils and anterior 

 part of the bead i* aa original peculiarity in the rook is thus satis- 

 factorily proved to be incorrect; indeed the fact that young rooks 

 exhibit no Jeflaieaoy ta these particulars is sufficiently conclusive on 

 this point; hot the possibility of aa entire species being endowed 

 with aa iastiaet destructive of s usual portion of iu organisation was 

 probably never contemplated by these observer* ; it U not surprising 

 therefore that the inference deduced from a partial view of the 

 . . . _ . , ..... 



C. Ctmt, the Carrion-Cmw, Oor Crow, Black Crow, Corby Crow 

 Hoody, Bran.; the Corneille Noire of the French. It has the feather, 

 of the throat short, ovate-lanceolate, compact. Tail straight, (lightly 



rounded. Plumage black, highly glow I, with purple reflections 

 above and green beneath. Young similar, but leu glossy. 



It is found throughout England, and also in the north of Ireland 

 and Scotland. It nlao inhabits Germany, France, Spain, Provence, 

 and Italy. Temmiuck says it is a native of Japan. 



Like the raven, the crows keep in pairs all the year, and seldom 

 more than two are found together, unless at a feast of carrion. Its 

 partiality to animal food has given it its various appellations, as well 

 u that of Flesh-Crow. They are dangerous enemies where sheep are. 

 They attack lambs and small quadrupeds, as well as the young of 

 birds. They also eat shell-fish on the sett-shore. In default of meat 

 they eat grain, potatoes, and have been known to feed on green- 

 walnuts. The Carrion-Crow is an early breeder, and commences 

 1 Hi tiding its nest in February. The female lays four or five eggs of a 

 palb bluish-green, spotted and speckled with two shades of ash colour 

 and clove-brown. 



C. cornur, the Hooded or Royston Crow, Gray-Backed Crow, Gray 

 Crow, Dun Crow, Bunting Crow, Heedy Crow ; Corneille Mantelee of 

 the French. The feathers of the throat are short, lanceolate, compact ; 

 tail straight, slightly rounded ; head, fore-neck, wings, and toil, black ; 

 the other parts ash-gray. Young with the plumage all dull black, 

 except a broad band of dusky round the foi e part of the body. 



This bird resembles the last in its form, and in its habits is said to 

 tie even more mischievous. In the southern parts of England it ix 

 only a whiter visitant, arriving from the north early in October, and 

 departing again in April. In the western and northern parts of Scot- 

 land it remains all the year. It frequents marshes near the sea, the 

 banks and shores of tidal rivers, as for instance the Thames. It is 

 called Royston from its frequency in the neighbourhood of that town 

 from October to April. Like the last species, they feed on lambs, 

 poultry, and other animals, and when on the sea-shore partaking of 

 criutacea, molliuca, and fish. Mr. Selby says, " I have repeatedly 

 observed one of these birds to soar up to a considerable height in the 

 air, with a cockle or mussel in its bill, and then drop it upon the r:>ck 

 in order to obtain the included fish." The Hooded Crow often pairs 

 with the Carrion-Crow, and, what is singular, the produce are not 

 apparent hybrids, but assume either the plumage of the Hooded Crow, 

 or Corrion-Crow. 



Pica. Bill entire, with cutting edges, straight or curved, furnished 

 at the base with setaceous feathers, lying forwards. Tail very long, 

 graduated. (Vieillot) 



The Piece, Magpies, feed much in the same manner as the true 

 crows, build their nests in trees, advance on the ground by hopping, 

 are clamorous, learn to articulate words easily, and the European 

 species is renowned for hiding anything shining and portable that 

 pleases its eye. This bird also has been always on object of supersti- 

 tion with the vulgar. 



P. caudala of Kay, Corviu Pica of LinuteuB, our common Magpie, 

 or 1'ianet, is, there U hardly any doubt, the Klrra of the Greeks. It 

 is the Pica of the Romans ; Gacza, Regazza, Putta, Picha, Gazzuola, 

 Gazzora, Ghiandaro, Goggio, and Gaggia Domenicono, of the Italians ; 

 Pie, Jaguette, Dame, and Agasse, of the French; Die Elster, 

 Die Aelster or Aglaster, of the Germans ; Skade and Huus Skade of 

 the Danes; Skior and Tunfugl of the Norwegians; Piogen of the 

 Welsh ; and Ootawa kec-oskee of the Cree Indians. 



The Magpie hardly needs description, its plumage of block and 

 white being so characteristic and well known. It is omnivorous, and 

 lays six or seven oblong eggs of a yellowish-white, spotted with brown, 

 and cinereous : its nest, well fortified with blackthorn twigs, is a curiosity. 

 The female is rather less than the male, and her tail is shorter. 



"This bird," says Sir John Richardson ('Fauna Boreali- Ameri- 

 cana'), "so common in Europe, is equally plentiful in the interior 

 prairie lands of America ; but it is singular that though it abounds 

 on the shores of Sweden and other maritime parts of the Old World, 

 it is very rare on the Atlantic coasts of America, or near Hudson's 

 Bay : only stray individuals passing to the eastward of the Mississippi 

 or of Lake Winipeg. Mr. Say informs us that it winters on the 

 Missouri, and takes its departure northwards on the 23rd of March. 

 It does not entirely quit the banks of the Saskatchewan c>\ 

 winter, but is much more frvquent in summer. On comparing it 

 eggs with those of the European bird, they are found to be longer and 

 narrower; and though the colours are the same, the blotches are 

 larger and more diffused. The manners of the American bird are 

 precisely the same that we are accustomed to observe in the English 

 one." Mr. Swoinson adds, that he has been. able to compare English 

 and Arctic specimens with one from the interior of China, communi- 

 cated to him by Mr. Gray, and that he cannot perceive the slightest 

 difference whereon to build even the character of a variety, much less 

 of a species. The toils of the Arctic specimens, he observes, are very 

 beautiful. A white variety of this bird is occasionally seen. 



The habits of the Magpie are very suspicious. Although seeking 

 the habitations of man, it is always prompted by self-interest. " It 

 is," says Montagu, "a great enemy to the husbandman atid the 

 preserver of game; but has cunning enough to evade their wrath. 

 No animal food conies amiss to their carnivorous appetite ; young 

 poultry, eggs, young lambs, and even weakly sheep it will attempt to 

 destroy by first plucking out their eyes ; the young of hares, rabbits, 

 and feathered gome, share the some fate ; fish, carrion, insects, and 



