126 



Many of the birds which constitute this family are nearly alike in their 

 plumage and habits. It includes the Rook, the Raven, the Magpie, the 

 Crows, the Jackdaw, the Chough, and others. Members of this family are 

 found in almost every part of the known world. While some feed on earth- 

 worms, insects as well as reptiles, others act the part of scavengers by feeding 

 on putrid flesh and removing noxious matter. Though restless and noisy the 

 crows especially they are active and sagacious, and have strong propensities 

 for thieving. In general the family constitutes many which are readily tamed 

 and taught to talk or articulate words. As for the Corvus genus, every one 

 could testify to their voracious habits. They have been known to commit such 

 havoc in some countries, that it became necessary to set a price on their 

 heads. They are monogamous, and live in a kind of society. They moult 

 only once a year. 



Gen. Trypanocorax- Bp. 



Wing never falling short of the tip, more than the tenth of tarsus ; face 

 and nostrils bare. 



121. Trypanocorax frugilegus, Linn. S. N. \. p. 150; Gould, 



Birds Eur. iii. pi. 24- McGillivray, Brit. B. i. p. 535 ; Yarrel BriL B. ii. 

 p. 91 ; Jerd. B. Ind. ii. p. 302; Hume, Ibis, 1871, p. 404; Shelley, B. 

 Egypt, p. 159; Blanford t East. Persia, p. 263; Sund. Meth. Av. Tent. - 

 The ROOK. 



PLATE. 



Whole plumage above black glossed with purple ; richer on the head and 

 neck, and with a greenish shade on the eyes and ear coverts ; forehead, lores, 

 base of the bill, nostrils and forepart of the cheeks, also the throat, bare, 

 being covered with a scabrous skin. Under surface dull purplish black. 

 First quill shorter than the second, which again is shorter than the fourth. 



Females similar to the male. Bill and feet black ; irides blackish brown. 



Length. \& to 18 inches; oilmen 2'2 ; wing 12 to 12*2; tail 7-4 to 7-5 ; 

 tarsus 2-1. 



The whole of Europe ranging into Persia, the Punjab, N.-W. 

 Provinces, Afghanistan, and Cashmere. 



The rook is so well known that its habits scarcely need description. It is well 

 known to be gregarious. Cultivated districts are its chief haunts. Grain and 

 insects especially form its chief food ; and no doubt the farmers are fully 

 repaid for so much of the seed that they lose, by its clearing their farms of wire, 

 worms and cock-chafers (Melolantha vulgaris). 



Rooks live together in large societies, and build on trees close to each 

 other, and frequently in the midst of populous towns. They occupy the same 

 nests from year to year. The nests are built of sticks and twigs, cemented 



