445 



PYKRHOCOKAX ALPINUS. 



(ALPINE CHOUGH.) 



Corvus pyrrhocorax, Brisson, Orn. ii. p. 31, pi. 1. fig. 2 (1760). 



Corvus pyrrhocorax, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 158 (1766, ex Briss.). 



Le Choquard ou Choucas des Alpes, Montbeillard, Hist. Nat. Ois. iii. p. 76, pi. 6 (1775). 



Pyrrhocorax, Vieill. (Choucas des Alpes, Montb.), Analyse, p. 36. no. 95 (1816). 



Pyrrhocorax alpinus, Koch, Baier. Zool. i. p. 90 (1816). 



Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax (L.), Temm. Man. d'Orn. i. p. 121 (1820). 



Pyrrhocorax alpinus, var. digitata, Ehr. Symb. Phys. fol. z (1829). 



Pyrrhocorax montanus, C. L. Brehm, Vog. Deutschl. p. 176 (1831). 



Prigilus pyrrhocorax (L.), Swainson, Classif. of Birds, ii. p. 268 (1837). 



Pyrrhocorax planiceps, C. L. Brehm, Vogelfang, p. 61 (1855). 



Choquard des Alpes, Choucas des Alpes, French ; Alpendohle, Alpenkrahe, German ; Qrajo, 

 Spanish; Gracchio, Italian. 



Figurw notabiles. 



D'Aubenton, PI. Enl. 331; Werner, Atlas, Omnivores, pi. 11; Fritsch, Vog. Eur. taf. 28. 

 fig. 5; Naumann, Vog. Deutschl. taf. 57. fig. 1; Gould, B. of Eur. pi. 218; Roux, Orn. 

 Prov. pi. 138. 



Ad. niger, dorso et collo cum pectore purpuras, alis et cauda supra chalybeo nitentibus : rostro flavo : iride 

 fusca : pedibus rubris, unguibus nigricantibus. 



Juv. sordidior, nitore uullo : rostro nigricante, ad basin flavo : pedibus nigricantibus nee rubris. 



Adult Male (Switzerland) . Entire plumage glossy black, with purple reflections on the back, and to a slight 

 extent on the neck and breast, and a rich bottle-green gloss on the wings and tail ; beak yellow, with 

 an orange tinge ; iris brown ; legs and feet dark vermilion-red ; soles blackish ; claws blackish horn. 

 Total length about 15-5-16 inches, culmen 1-2, wing 10"3, tail 60, tarsus 1*7. 



Female. Similar to the male. 



Young (fide Bailly, Orn. Sav. ii. p. 147) . On leaving the nest the young birds have the plumage dull and 

 brownish in tinge ; the beak is yellowish at the base, but otherwise blackish ; the legs are blackish, 

 with a little red only in the articulations. After the first moult (say, about the end of September) the 

 tarsi are nearly brown and the beak yellowish, and a few greenish reflections may be observed on the 

 new feathers, especially on the wings. In the following spring, before the month of May, they attain 

 the full adult plumage. 



This Alpine bird has even a more restricted and local range than the Red-billed Chough, being 



k2 



