284, TEN YEARS IN SWEDEN. 



wedge-shaped; the closed wings 2 in. shorter than 

 the tail, and half an inch shorter than the side tail 

 feathers. Colour black, with purple gloss ; iris with 

 two circles, of which the inner is grey-brown, the outer 

 white. 



The eggs of all this genus have the same character, blue- 

 ish green, or pale greenish grey, with dashes, stains and 

 spots of a darker shade. Build either in trees or on rocks. 

 Number of eggs from five to six. The eggs of the raven 

 are, of course, much larger than those of any other species. 



50. C. COKNIX, L. Gra Kraka. The Hooded Crow. D. F. 



Length 18 in. Body colour ash grey; wings and 

 tail black. First wing feather shorter than ninth. 



Is very common throughout the whole land during the 

 summer months, although I fancy many leave the country 

 altogether, and return with the starlings in March. A great 

 many remain in the south, and even in the middle of the 

 country, if the winter be open. Breed in woods solitarily, 

 far inland from the coast. Assemble on the meadows in 

 large flocks, like the rooks, in the spring and autumn. Yery 

 common in Finland, but I think do not breed in Den- 

 mark. 



The carrion crow has hardly been properly identified in 

 Scandinavia. Some naturalists (but I am not among the 

 number) doubt whether the carrion crow is anything more 

 than a local variety of the hooded crow. 



Kjarbolling remarks that, in the south of Denmark 

 where the carrion crow is, I fancy, more common than the 

 hooded crow they assemble in the autumn in large flocks, 

 as the hooded crows do in Sweden. This I never observed 

 in England. 



51. C. FRUGILEGUS, L. Eaka. The Rook. D. F. 



Length 1 ft. 6 in. Plumage black, glossed with blue ; 

 base of the bill in the old bird bare, covered with a 

 white scurf; body form much slenderer than in the 

 crow, beak thinner, and feathers on the head and 

 throat much more silky. None of the shafts of the 



