1134 Birds. 



Nudity of the Rook's Throat and Forehead. I have to acknowledge your letter, 

 in which you are so good as to say that you are anxious to receive some additional re- 

 marks from me on the subject of the nudity of the rook's throat and forehead, as the 

 question appeared to be still undecided. Mr. BlackwalPs experiment on a caged 

 rook (Zool. 937) is, to say the least, entitled to very grave consideration, unless it can 

 be supposed that such a strict imprisonment was so far prejudicial to the health of his 

 bird as to cause an unnatural loss of that portion of its plumage (as high feeding and 

 sedentary habits will sometimes render a city alderman prematurely bald), or (as was 

 the case with one of my rooks, Zool. 633) that he could attribute the disappearance of 

 its feathers to an acquired trick of thrusting its beak between the bars of the chicken - 

 pen, or to some confirmed habit which might be attended with a similar result. I rea- 

 dily admit this, although his conclusions appear to be drawn from an imprisoned spe- 

 cimen, and not to be equally deduced from a general observation of the life and habits 

 of the bird in a state of nature. When I had last the pleasure of seeing Mr. Yarrell, 

 after a careful examination of my various specimens, the same which in illustration 

 of my former remarks rendered the subject so " clear and decisive " to you, he also 

 produced a stuffed specimen of an adult rook, the mandibles of which were so exceed- 

 ingly distorted by being respectively curved upwards and downwards, that the bristle- 

 like feathers which cover the nostrils, and the plumage of the throat, were still perfect, 

 but a very small portion on either side of the base of the lower mandible was naked. 

 How did this occur? Mr. Yarrell was in doubt. Who then shall decide! During 

 the last three years I have examined many specimens of adult rooks, which have been 

 shot in the wild state, both with perfect and with misshapen mandibles, and I have 

 never known malformation of the bill and nakedness of the forehead and throat to be 

 co-existent in the same individual. I have now in my possession a live rook of last 

 year, one which I took from the nest in May, 1844, and therefore more than fourteen 

 months old. As in my former experiment (Zool. 629) the young birds were always in 

 a state of confinement, which might reasonably be supposed to injure their health, and 

 therefore materially affect the shedding or reproduction of their plumage, I determined 

 to allow this bird as much liberty as a pinioned wing would permit him to enjoy. Ac- 

 cordingly, he has been but half a prisoner. For many months he was suffered to roam 

 through the garden and plantations, where he was left entirely to his own resources. 

 About two months ago I removed him to a small enclosure, for the purpose of observ- 

 ing more accurately whatever changes might occur in the feathers of his throat and 

 forehead ; but with the exception of a trifling loss there, in which all his plumage par- 

 ticipates, he still preserves his original appearance. Whether he will ultimately fol- 

 low the example of Mr. Blackwall's bird, time alone must prove ; but you may rely 

 on my sendiug you an accurate account of the result, whatever it may be. And here 

 I may be permitted to say, that another year's careful observation of the life and ha- 

 bits of the rook in a state of nature, since I penned my former remarks on this subject, 

 have served to convince me of their accuracy, and to corroborate all that I have said 

 as to the digging propensities of this bird being more especially developed during the 

 breeding-season. Even admitting that the frontal feathers would, to a certain degree, 

 gradually disappear of their own accord, I really cannot persuade myself that the pe- 

 culiar state of the throat in all adult wild rooks can ever be produced without external 

 violence, however much Nature may assist in the removal of the plumage. In addi- 

 tion to the " short filiform processes," the roots of worn-out feathers, frequently percep- 

 tible to the naked eye, and generally to the touch, are, under a magnifying glass, glar- 



