

The nest is composed of large sticks, cemented with clay, 

 mixed \vitli tufts of grass and is lined with roots. 



The eggs, four or five in number, are of a pale green 

 ground colour, blotted over with darker and lighter patches 

 of yellowish and greenish brown: they vary much. 



Male; length, one foot seven or eight inches; iris, dark 

 brown. The whole plumage is black, glossed with purple, 

 particularly on the upper parts. The wings and tail under- 

 neath have a tinge of grey. The first feather of the wing is 

 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. Legs, toes, and claws, bright black. 



The female is about one foot five or six inches in length: 

 her plumage has less brilliancy than that of the male. Young 

 birds resemble the female, but have at first feathers at the 

 base of the bill. 



White, cream-coloured, antl pied varieties of the Hook occa- 

 sionally occur; one which was at first 'of a light ash-colour, 

 most beautifully mottled all over with black, and the quill 

 and tail feathers elegantly barred,' became of the usual hue 

 after moulting. Malformations of the bill in this species have 

 also been noticed; one is figured by Yarrell, in which the 

 lower part is much elongated, projecting upwards; in another 

 the points of both were slightly crossed; and in another, they 

 .reatly elongated, and much curved. 



