42 



ROOK. 



YDFHAN OF THE ANCIENT BEITISH. 



Corvus fmgilegus, LINNAEUS. GAIEI.IN. 



Cor nix frugilega, BRISSOX. 



" nigra frugilega, RAY. WlLLUGHBY. 



Corvus A Crow. Frugikgns. Fruges Fruits. Lego To collect 



or gather. 



TIFE Hook is a native of most of the temperate regions 

 of Europe and Asia, and is found in Japan, according to M. 

 Temminck. Latham says that it does not occur in the Channel 

 Islands, though it does in France; also in Denmark, Sweden, 

 Russia, Silesia, and other countries of the former continent. 

 It is, perhaps, more abundant in England than in any other 

 part of the world, hut decreases in numbers towards the 

 extreme north, and is not found in the Orkney or Shetland 

 Isles. 



There are two opinions as to the bare space at the base 

 of the bill in these birds; some contending that it is natural, 

 and others that it is caused by the thrusting of the bill into 

 the ground in search of food. I cannot myself but lean to 

 the former theory of the fact, and for it I give the following 

 reasons conclusively set forth by the Kev. W. Waldo Cooper, 

 of West-Kasen, Lincolnshire, in 'The Naturalist,' No. 3, pages 

 o3-54: 'First, though the Eook is a great delver, yet he 

 does not at all seasons dig equally; and at some seasons so 

 little, as to allow the feathers to grow, at least partially, 

 were abrasion the 'sole' cause of their absence. Secondly, the 

 mode of his digging is not such as to cause much abrasion. 

 Thirdly, I have never seen or heard of a specimen, not kept 

 in confinement, in which this process was taking place; that 

 is, the feathers 'damaged only' by digging. Fourthly, the 



