100 CORVIDJE. 



This bird is probably nowhere more common than in 

 England and Ireland ; but decreases in numbers as you 

 proceed northward in Scotland, and is not found in Orkney 

 or Shetland. A few are observed in Denmark, the south- 

 ern part of Sweden, Russia, and northern Asia. It is said 

 to be somewhat migratory over part of the European con- 

 tinent, and is not found in Guernsey or Jersey, though 

 observed occasionally to fly across the Channel from this 

 country. It is found in Corfu, Sicily, and Malta, but does 

 not remain all the year. It has been found also in the 

 range between the Black and the Caspian seas ; and M. 

 Temminck says it is an inhabitant of Japan. 



The anterior part of the beak shining black ; the basal 

 part of both mandibles, as well as the skin under the 

 tongue and on the throat, naked of feathers, scabrous, and 

 warty, and this is the most obvious external distinction 

 between the Rook and Carrion Crow ; the irides dark 

 brown ; the whole of the plumage black, glossed with 

 purple, in adult birds, particularly over the neck and back ; 

 under surface of wing and tail-feathers greyish black. Legs, 

 toes, and claws, shining black. 



The \vhole length of the adult male described was nine- 

 teen inches and a half ; from the carpal joint of the wing 

 to the end of the longest quill-feather, twelve inches and 

 one quarter ; the first feather 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. 



The female is frequently, in her whole length, two inches 

 shorter than the male, and has less brilliancy in the plumage. 



Young birds of the year resemble the adult female ; but 

 the feathers at the base of the beak, projecting forward 

 over the nostrils, are not replaced after the first moult, and 



