ROOK. 105 



range between the Black and the Caspian Seas ; and M. 

 Temminck says it is an inhabitant of Japan. 



The anterior part of the beak is shining black ; the basal 

 part of both mandibles, as well as the skin under the 

 tongue and on the throat, naked of feathers, scabrous, and 

 warty, and this is the most obvious external distinction 

 between the Rook and Carrion Crow ; the irides dark 

 brown ; the whole of the plumage black, glossed with 

 purple, in adult birds, particularly over the neck and back ; 

 under surface of wing and tail-feathers greyish black ; 

 legs, toes, and claws, shining black. 



The whole length of the adult male described was nine- 

 teen inches and a half ; from the carpal joint of the wing 

 to the end of the longest quill-feather, twelve inches and 

 one quarter; the first feather three inches shorter than 

 the second ; the second one inch shorter than the fourth, 

 which is the longest in the wing; the third is as much 

 shorter than the fourth as it is longer than the fifth. 



The female is frequently, in her whole length, two inches 

 shorter than the male, and has less brilliancy in the plumage. 



Young birds of the year resemble the adult female ; but 

 the feathers at the base of the beak, projecting forward 

 over the nostrils, are not replaced after the first moult, and 

 two or three other birds (not British) are now known to 

 exhibit this peculiarity, which has been considered specific. 



White, pied, and cream-coloured varieties of the Rook 

 sometimes occur. Mr. Hunt, of Norwich, says, " a gen- 

 tleman 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 feathers elegantly barred. 

 This curiosity he was naturally anxious to keep ; when 

 upon the bird moulting, all its mottled plumage vanished 

 entirely, it became a jet black Rook, and in this state 

 was suffered to join its sable tribe, as a fit companion, in 



