88 



Rooks occasionally retain the black feathers above 

 the beak, it is as well to know that the colour of 

 the mouth of a Rook is a dull slate, while that of a 

 Crow is pale flesh. 



The nestlings of both species show this differ- 

 ence as well as the adults. 



I have frequently observed this bird pairing 

 with the Grey Crow in the Highlands, and I believe 

 it is generally supposed when this is the case that 

 the young always take after one or other of the 

 parents. 



In the summer of 1866, when living in the 

 north-west of Perthshire, I trapped one young bird 

 and shot another near the same spot that had 

 every appearance of being a regular cross between 

 the two species ; the whole of the body was black 

 except a small patch of grey on the neck and back. 



I at first thought they might possibly be young 

 Jackdaws, not being quite certain whether that 

 species had a white eye in its immature state ; but 

 on examining a Jackdaw's nest, I soon discovered 

 that the iris is the same colour in the mature and 

 immature birds. 



The specimens were unfortunately not pre- 

 served, as the weather was so hot that they were 

 spoiled before 1 was able to send them away. 



A few days later two more young birds in 

 similar plumage were killed in the same glen by the 

 keeper, who said that he saw them flying after a 

 pair of old Crows one of which was black and the 

 other grey. 



The specimens in the case were shot in the 

 marshes near Hickling Broad in Norfolk in January, 

 1873. 



They were disturbed in the act of making a 

 meal off a fowl that had escaped wounded from 

 some of the gunners. 



