248 ROOK. 
Flocks of Rooks made their appearance towards the end of 
November 1880 in Iceland, and the Feroes are sometimes visited. 
In Scandinavia—whence, as a rule, this species emigrates in winter— 
it breeds below the line of the fells; it also nests in Finland on the 
frontier of the St. Petersburg district, and eastward, sparingly, as far as 
Archangel. During summer it is generally, though somewhat irreg- 
ularly distributed throughout the rest of Northern and Central 
Europe; nesting southward down to the vicinity of Biarritz in 
France, Modena and Venetia in Italy, the Dobrudscha, and the 
Crimea; but it is only known as a winter-visitor to the Iberian 
Peninsula and the. countries in the Mediterranean basin, where, 
during summer, the soil is usually too hard to be bored for grubs &c. 
It nests in the wooded districts of Northern Persia, Turkestan, and 
Siberia as far as the valley of the Irtish; visiting Afghanistan, 
Kashmir, North-western India, and’ Palestine in winter, at which 
season it is also found in Egypt as far south as Memphis, and occa- 
sionally in Algeria. In Eastern Siberia, China and Japan the repre- 
sentative species is C. pastinator, in which the throat is feathered, 
and the plumage purplish-black. 
The nest, usually built about the middle of March, and composed 
of twigs and turf, with a lining of roots and straw, but seldom—if 
ever—any wool, is generally placed in tall trees, but sometimes in 
pollard-willows, firs, laurustinus and holly-bushes; occasionally on 
chimney-tops and ornaments of church-spires, and exceptionally on 
the ground. In the Orkneys dry tangle and fish-bones are used: as 
building material. The 3-5 eggs are bluish-green, blotched and 
streaked with olive-brown, like those of the Carrion-Crow but 
rather smaller: measurements 1°6 by 1°15 in. The food consists 
chiefly of insects and their larve, but practically the Rook will eat 
anything, and in dry seasons, when protective herbage is scanty, it 
not only takes eggs if occasion offers, but hunts for them regularly 
and sytematically, like a Crow. Its note is the well-known caw. 
In the adult the general plumage is black with a blue gloss; the 
forehead, lores and throat are bare of feathers, and show a greyish 
warty skin ; bill, legs and feet black ; inside of mouth slate-coloured. 
Length 19 in.; wing 12°65 in. In the young, until the second 
moult, the base of the bill is bristly, as in the Crow, but the bill 
itself is more slender, and the inside is deep flesh-colour; the 
feathers have greyer bases, and the plumage has a bluish tint. The 
bird does not breed until it is nearly two years old. White, pie- 
bald and chocolate-brown varieties are not uncommon; while 
curious malformations of the bill have been noticed. 
