]wlT o^^cirtioLogr. 



This Bird delights to feed upon Carrion, that is the Carkafles of dead Animals its Food, 

 when they begin to putrefie. Neither doth it feed only upon Carrion, but alfo fet 

 upon kill, and devour living birds, in like manner as the Raven i Moreover, it eats 

 Grain and'all forts of Infers in England at lead. For beyond Seas they fay it meddles 

 with no kind of Grain. ' ! '•'"' 



This kind of Bird abounds With us in Britain, aS Cardan and Turner truly obferve, its place 

 becaufe here is plenty of food for them. They build upon high trees, and lay four or where it 

 live Eggs at a time, like Ravens, but lefs. They are very noifom to Lambs new- bulIds - 

 yeaned if they be weak and feeble, firft picking out their eyes. They are faid to 

 have a very fagaciousfent, fo that it is difficult to fiioot them, they fmelling the Gun- 

 powder at a great di ft ance. jj 



Ravens, Crowsjkc. rooft (" as they fay ) upon trees with their Bills directed toward 



the Sun-rifing. 



That the Crow it felf ( faith Aldrovandus ) is capable of humane fpeech, and hath Crows taught 

 been taught to pronounce feveral words, both we our felves do certainly know, and tof P eak - 

 Pliny, a Witnefs beyond exception, teftifieth, writing thus : There was alfi in the City 

 of Rome, whikft I was recording thefe things, a Crow belonging to a Roman Gentleman, 

 brought out of Bstica, firft admirable for its colour, which was exceeding black., then pro- 

 nouncing many words in connexion, and ft ill learning more and more. As for its pace, it 

 is reckoned among thofe birds which neither run, nor leap, but walk. Aldro- 

 vandus. . , 



The Females only fit, and that diligently, the Males in the mean time bring them Their mn : 

 food, as Artftotle faith. In mod: other birds which pair together, the Male and Fe- J^^ incu ' 

 male fit by turns. They do not ( faith Aldrovandus ) as I hear, feed their Young till they They f eed not 

 begin to be feathered 5 the fame alfo is reported of Ravens, and many other birds that their young 

 are much on the Wing. You will fay, wherewithal are they nouriihed in the mean "j' vy a c> 

 time, and how do they grow? Ianfwer, with the Yolk of the Egg remaining in the 

 Belly after exclufion. For we have elfewhere ihewn, that a good part of the Yolk 

 is received into the cavity of the belly in birds newly hatched, which being by de- 

 grees conveyed into the Guts by a certain paflage called by us duUus inteftinalps, ferves 

 to nouriln the Young newly excluded* 



§. IIL 



Comix fiugivora feu ftugilega : The Rook. 



TT weighed nineteen ounces: Its length from the tip of the Bill to the end of the its weight 

 I Tail was twenty inches, to the end of the Claws eighteen. The breadth or di- ™* mcaferes.-. 

 ftance between the tips of the Wings extended thirty eight inches. It hath no Craw, 

 but inftead thereof the Gullet below the Bill is dilated into a kind of bag, wherein it 

 brings meat to feed its Young. 



In the old ones of this fort the feathers about the root of the Bill as far as the Eyes The EiH. 

 are worn off, by often thrufting the Bill into the ground, to fetch out Earth- 

 worms, &c. So "that the flefla thereabouts is bare, and appears of a whitifti colour : 

 By which note this bird may be diftinguifhed from the common Crow. Howbeit the how it differs 

 Bill it felf is not white, as Bellonius writes, and others believe. It differs alfo from the ^*c 

 Crow, 2. In that itisfomewhat bigger : 3. In the purple fplendour or glofs of its fea- 

 thers : 4. In that it is gregarious, both flying and breeding in company. 



The number of beam- feathers in each Wing is twenty, of which the fourth is the The wing- 

 longeft, being by meafure ten inches and a quarter. The (hafts of the middle Wing- ^ ers or 

 feathers endinbriftles or fpines. The Tail is feven inches and an half long, made The Tail, 

 up of twelve feathers j the exteriour whereof are a little ftiorter than the middle 

 ones. 



The Bill from the tip to the Angles of the mouth is two inches and an half long. ^nV ^ 

 The Noftrils round : The Tongue black, horny, and cloven at the end. The hind-toe Tongue} S3 

 hath a large ftrongClaw. The outmoft fore-toe is joyned to the middlemoft, as in Toes, 

 the Crow. n. 



It hath a IargeGall; fhort blind-guts like the Crow, of abouthalfan inch. The fto- The Guts and 

 mach is great and mufculous as in granivorous birds: The Guts wide and varioufly j^jj^ 

 reflected. They are moil: greedy of Corn, yet feed alfo upon Earth-worms and other 

 Inle&s, refraining from garbage and carrion. 



& 2 They 



