276 BIEDS OF NORFOLK. 



which a singular example is figured in the " Field" 

 of May 20th, 1865 (p. 360), from a bird killed at 

 Buckenham, near Norwich, in the previous April. In 

 this specimen,* the lower mandible projects considerably 

 beyond the upper, which is of about the usual size, and 

 the bare skin above and below the beak occupies the 

 usual space. The editor of the Natural History 

 department of the " Field," commenting on this fact, 

 remarks, "It seems scarcely credible that the bird 

 in question could have been in the habit of plunging 

 this deformed beak so far into the ground as to have 

 worn off the feathers of the head, as is alleged by some 

 naturalists, nor do we think that even the most strenu- 

 ous supporters of this view could imagine that the bare 

 space behind the eyes could have been caused in this 

 manner." Though perfectly in accordance with my own 

 impressions, yet on the other hand, as has been shrewdly 

 remarked by Yarrell, in describing a similar abnormity 

 of beak, combined with a white face, e ' it is possible that 

 this nakedness might have been produced before the 

 alteration in the form of the beak had taken place, and 

 the bulbs from which the feathers arise having been once 

 injured might afterwards remain unproductive." A very 

 fair argument, indeed, for those who still hold to the 

 abrasion theory ; but in maintaining, myself, the specific 

 nature of this peculiarity, I would rely mainly on the 

 fact of certain year-old rooks occurring with perfect 

 beaks, and, in a wild state, still retaining the feathers 

 surrounding their bills, thus making "the exception 

 prove the rule." In the Norwich museum (No. 136.d) 

 there is also a specimen, which has not only a formidable 



* I have also a rook, killed in this county, having both the upper 

 and lower mandibles elongated, and crossing each other in ex- 

 tended curves, so as apparently to exclude the possibility of the 

 bird procuring food for itself, but this bird also has the white skin 

 around the beak, as in most old birds. 



