26o WILD LIFE OF SCOTLAND 



so closely allied, and so thrown together, that they 

 frequently cross : a condition of things common, 

 as we have seen, among game birds, and even 

 swallows. 



" Nests are constantly found with one of both 

 kinds ; and I have noticed that the male is generally 

 hooded, and the female black. The young also are 

 mixed," says St. John. This would seem to in- 

 dicate that the grey, instead of being a specific, is 

 a sexual badge, like the colours of other male birds : 

 a suggestion which is contradicted by the fact that 

 pairs of grey crows are found. 



The hooded crow is a northern and coast species ; 

 the carrion crow, a southern species, whose range 

 extends much farther inland. Where the two meet, 

 which they do on the flat seashores, they un- 

 doubtedly mate. 



If the distinction is to be observed, then they 

 are the only members of the crow family that do 

 migrate in this unmistakeable fashion; although 

 the raven may come out of the stern corries in 

 exceptionally severe weather. 



Game are noted homekeepers. Indeed, they are 

 the most truly stationary of all our native birds. 

 The ptarmigan may descend to the edge of the' snow 

 cap; the red grouse may join the blackcock, and 



