112 



but Mr. Macgillivray, who has paid great attention to the 

 Ornithology of Scotland, says it is not found in the outer 

 Hebrides. Mr. Low includes it as a bird of the Orkneys ; 

 but it is on the information of others : he does not appear 

 to have seen the birds himself. It is not mentioned by Mr. 

 Dunn as occurring in Shetland. It is found, however, 

 still farther north, in Denmark and in Scandinavia, in 

 Russia, and in western Siberia, and Faber includes it as 

 a bird of Iceland. The Jackdaw does not exist in Ame- 

 rica. Eastward from this country it is found very com- 

 mon in Holland, and is a native of Germany, France, 

 Italy, and the northern shores of Africa. It is found also 

 at Corfu, Sicily, Malta, and Crete. Specimens have been 

 forwarded to this country from Smyrna and Trebizond. 

 It occurs in the countries between the Black and the Cas- 

 pian Seas, and from thence northward to Lake Baikal, but 

 is not found in India. 



The beak is black and short, about the same length as 

 the head of the bird ; the basal half covered with feathers 

 directed forwards ; the irides greyish white ; the crown of 

 the head black ; ear-coverts, nape, the whole of the neck 

 behind and on the sides, smoke-grey ; the whole of the 

 back, wings, and tail, black ; the wings exhibiting a por- 

 tion of shining blue colour, but not so conspicuously as in 

 the Crow or Rook ; all the under surface of the body rusty 

 black ; legs, toes, and claws, shining black. 



The whole length of a male bird is about fourteen inches. 

 The wing from the carpal joint to the end of the longest 

 feather, nine inches and three-eighths ; the first wing-feather 

 two inches and a half shorter than the second, which is 

 three-quarters of an inch shorter than the third ; the third 

 and fourth feathers nearly equal in length, and the longest 

 in the wing. The wings when closed do not reach to the 

 end of the tail by rather more than one inch. 



