554 



is " a bird of passage in October and November, when it generally appears in small flocks. In 

 the winters of 1861-62 and 1862-63," he says, "it was very common, and remained on the 

 island several months, associating with Jackdaws and Starlings. This year I observed it till the 

 beginning of April, when it disappeared, probably having taken its departure northward to 

 breed." Lord Lilford says that immense numbers arrive in Corfu and Epirus about the end of 

 October, and disappear early in February ; and the late Captain R. M. Sperling, who shot several 

 in Greece, remarks that all were young of the year, from which he infers that only the young 

 birds migrate southward. Both Lindermayer and Von der Muhle agree that it is only a winter 

 visitant to Greece, arriving about the middle of November and leaving in April, none ever 

 remaining to breed even in the northern provinces. 



In Southern Germany it is tolerably common, and, according to Dr. A. Fritsch, extremely 

 numerous in some parts of Bohemia, where it breeds ; but in Styria, according to Mr. Seiden- 

 sacher, it only remains during winter, arriving in November and leaving in March. Messrs. 

 Elwes and Buckley found it common in Bulgaria ; and it is numerous in Southern Russia, being, 

 Dr. Radde states, more so in Bessarabia than the Hooded Crow ; and Professor von Nordmann 

 writes that it is found in thousands along the large rivers, being also abundant in the Crimea, 

 only leaving for a short time during very rigorous winters, returning to its old nesting-places in 

 February. Menetries speaks of it as being numerous in the Caucasus ; but I do not find it 

 recorded from Asia Minor. Canon Tristram, however, met with it in Palestine, and writes 

 (Ibis, 1866, p. 66) as follows: — "We were riding across the plain from Nablous on the road to 

 Jerusalem, when, for the first time, we noticed the Books fearlessly following the Arab plough- 

 men at their work. They seemed to smell powder as promptly as their fellows in England ; but 

 we obtained two, which, although December was far advanced, had no denudation of the basal 

 portion of the mandibles. "We occasionally met with small flocks in the cultivated districts of 

 Central Palestine, but did not come across any rookeries, unless the gathering at the Mosque of 

 Omar in Jerusalem may be so termed. Jerusalem and Nablous seem the headquarters of the 

 race ; indeed in a country so bare of wood the Rook must be as hard put to for a home as in 

 Central France after the Revolution had stripped the chateaux of their ancestral timber. At 

 Jerusalem we found the species very abundant in winter, congregating in the sacred enclosure of 

 the mosque every evening, along with Jackdaws, a few Hooded Crows, and the two species of 

 Ravens, as familiarly as it does with the first of these in England. The different species appeared 

 to go out to feed together, and returned in consort to roost every evening. I am not certain 

 that I observed them on the occasion of my latest visit to Jerusalem in April. Certainly if they 

 remained it was in much diminished numbers ; and probably they had at that period sought more 

 congenial places for nidification. But it is possible that some remained ; for all ' the species 

 were so intermingled that without close inspection the Rook might easily be overlooked." 

 Canon Tristram further states that it does not occur in Egypt ; but this is an oversight, as it 

 appears to be by no means a rare winter visitant to North-east Africa. Captain Shelley writes 

 (B. of Egypt, p. 159), "large flocks of the common Rook may be met with in the Delta up to 

 the end of March ; but it does not remain to breed in the country. It is rarely seen south of 

 Cairo, although upon one occasion I observed a few at Memphis ; this may be owing to the fact 

 that snails and slugs, delicacies on which this bird delights to feed, are entirely absent from 



