CORTUS. 10 



Coloration. The whole plumage black ; the head, Deck, and lower 

 plumage richly glossed with purplish blue, the upper plumage 

 with violet-purple. 



Bill and feet black ; iris blackish brown (Hume Coll.}. 



Lengfti about 19; tail 6'5 to 8 ; wing 12 to 13; tarsus about 

 2-2 ; bill from gape 2-5 to 2-8. 



The nestling is without any gloss at first but quickly assumes it. 

 About January, or when the young bird is about nine months old, 

 the naral bristles are cast, and by March the front part of the head 

 has become entirely denuded of feathers. 



Fig. 6. Head of C. frugilegus. 



Distribution. The Eook occurs in Kashmir, the Hazara country 

 and the extreme north-west portion of the Punjab in the winter 

 The Hume Collection contains birds killed at Abbottabad from Oc- 

 tober to February, and Scully states that this -species is common in 

 Gilgit from the third week in October to the third week in April. 



The Kook is found in Central Asia and in Europe, but to the 

 east it is replaced by C. pastinator, which has a smaller extent of 

 the face denuded of feathers. 



Habits, <$fc. The Eook frequents the better cultivated parts of the 

 country in large flocks, feeding in meadows and ploughed land on 

 worms, snails and grubs. It does not breed in India. In Europe 

 it breeds in large societies, building a nest similar to the Crow's 

 on large trees. 



6. Corvns cornix. The Hooded Crow. 



Corvus cornix, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 156 (1766) ; Blyth, Cat. i, p. 89 ; 



Horsf. $ M. Cat. ii, p. 553 ; Hume, S. F. vii, pp. 406, 517 ; id. 



Cat. no. 659 bis ; Biddulph, Ibis, 1881, p. 77. 

 Corone cornix (ZiYw.), Sharpe, Cat. U. M. iii, p. 31. 



Coloration. Entire head and neck, the central part of the upper 

 breast, the wings, tail, and thighs glossy black ; remainder of the 

 plumage drab-grey, the shafts of the upper parts black, those of 

 the lower brown. 



c2 



