34 A CATALOGUE OF THE BIRDS 



In tte district "wliere this intermingling of the two forms oc- 

 curs, the inhabitants look upon them as mere varieties of the 

 Hooded Crow. Mr. Charles St. John, in his interesting work on 

 ''I^atui'al History and Sport in Moray," says, ''Though the 

 Carrion Crow is not supposed to be an inhabitant of this part of 

 the country, (speaking of the neighbourhood of Elgin,) it is im- 

 possible to decide upon the line which divides the two birds, the 

 black Carrion and the Hooded Crow. JS'o doubt the Hooded 

 Crow is the commonest species here, but I have taken some 

 trouble in examining these birds, and have killed Crows in every 

 shade of plumage from pure black to the perfectly marked 

 Hooded Crow, and this without reference to age or sex." This 

 author then goes on to say, that ' ' the Hooded Crow is the Crow 

 of that country," and evidently looks upon the black individuals 

 as mere varieties. 



The same indiscriminate interbreeding of these two forms 

 takes place in Aberdeenshire. The late Mr. J. Hepburn kindly 

 sent to me the "Notes of his observations" on the subject, made 

 a few miles north of Aberdeen, on the estate of his relative. Sir 

 James D. K. Elphinstone, with liberty to make what use of them 

 I pleased. Mr. Hepburn says, "Every one acquainted with 

 those parts of Scotland where the Carrion Crow and Hooded 

 Crow are to be found in about equal numbers, must often have 

 observed in the fields, during the early spring, individuals of the 

 one kind associated with those of the other. In fact, when at 

 that time you see a pair of Crows, it is just as common to find 

 that one is grey and the other black, as that both are of the same 

 colour. The gamekeepers and persons of that description have 

 no doubt whatever as to both the black and the grey ' Hoodies,' 

 as they are there called, being of the same species." 



This gentleman examined twelve nests, and found that the 

 parents of five of them were, the one black the other grey, that of 

 four, both parents were grey, and that of three, both parents were 

 black. The broods of the black and grey parents were found, some 

 to resemble one parent, some the other; and in one instance, 

 where the pai'cnts wore both Hooded Crows, one of the young 

 was of a pure black, and all the rest were, like the parents, grey. 



