100 On the Ornithology of Wilts \_Corcid(e]. 



it is somewhat larger than the Carrion Crow, and may easily be 

 distinguished from that bird by the bare space of rough white 

 skin surrounding the base of the beak and on the fore part of the 

 head : as in the young birds these parts are covered with bristly 

 feathers, it has been by some supposed that the constant plunging 

 of the bill into the ground in search of worms and grubs causes 

 the abrasion of these feathers, while others affirm it to be an 

 original peculiarity : and the question is hardly yet satisfactorily 

 settled; " adhuc sub judice lis est," though I am inclined to the 

 latter opinion : the fact however of the existence of the rough skin 

 which serves to distinguish it from its more sable congener, the 

 Carrion Crow, is undoubted : this skin is also very elastic and 

 pKable, and in the spring the Rook may be seen flying home to its 

 nest, with its throat distended with a supply of food for its young, 

 as if in a pouch below the chin, though none such exists. 



"Jackdaw" {Corvus monedula). This lively bird is as well 

 known as the preceding, with which it lives in the closest alliance, 

 and its active bustling movements, cunning saucy look, and sharp 

 short voice make it a general favorite : wherever the rooks are 

 feeding, there you may invariably see the Jackdaw strutting about 

 with careless jaunty air, and hear its merry saucy chatter : it will 

 also perch, like the starling, on the sheeps back, and for the same 

 friendly laudable purpose. Towers, cliffs, and hollow trees are its 

 general dwelling places, but its favourite haunts seem to be our 

 grandest Cathedrals and largest Colleges, amid the towers and 

 pinnacles of which it loves to nest. Its plumage is greyish black, 

 glossed with blue, green, and purple, with the exception of the 

 hind part of the neck which is light grey. 



" Magpie " [Pica caiidata). Exceedingly handsome with bright 

 burnished plumage, and of very graceful form, the Magpie must 

 claim our admiration, however we may find fault with its mischie- 

 vous cunning greedy character. To see it flit from tree to tree at 

 a distance, (and it is too shy to suffer a near approach) one might 

 imagine its colours to be simply black and white, and even then 

 we must admii'e its elegant figure : but to come upon it suddenly, 

 and have a clear view of it in the golden sunshine, one can but 



