BRITISH BIRDS. 37 



under one yellow. A bare greenish skin is ex- 

 tended from the beak beyond the eyes, the irides of 

 which are yellow, and give them a fierce and 

 piercing aspect. The brow and crown of the head 

 are white, bordered above the eyes by black lines, 

 which reach the nape of the neck, where they join 

 a long flowing pendent crest, of the same colour. 

 The upper part of the neck, in some, is white, in 

 others, pale ash; the fore part, lower clown, is 

 spotted with a double roAv of black feathers, and 

 those which fall over the breast are long, loose, 

 and unwebbed ; the shoulders and scapular feathers 

 are of the same texture, of a grey colour, generally 

 streaked Avith white, and spread over its down- 

 cloathed back. The ridge of the wing is white, 

 coverts and secondaries, lead grey; bastard wings 

 and quills, bluish black; as are, also, the long soft 

 feathers which take their rise on the sides, under 

 the wings, and, falling down, meet at their tips, 

 and hide all the under parts: the latter, next the 

 skin, are covered with a thick, matted, dirty white 

 down, except about the belly and vent, which are 

 almost bare. The tail is short, and consists of 

 twelve feathers, of a cinereous or brownish lead 

 colour; the legs are dirty green, long, bare above 

 the tarsal joint, and the middle claw is jagged on 

 the inner edge. 



The female has not the long flowing crest, or the 

 long feathers which hang over the breast of the 

 male, and her whole plumage is more uniformly 

 dull and obscure. In the breeding season, they 

 congregate in large societies, and, like the Rooks, 

 build their nests on trees, with sticks, lined with 

 dried grass, wool, and other warm materials. The 



