FREGIMTS GRACULUS
WaUa\]mp.
F R E G I L U S G R A C U L U S .
Choogh.
Corvus gracnlm, Linn. SysL Nat., tom. i. p. 158.
Coracia erythrormnpb&t, VieilL Nouv. Diet. d’Hist. Mat., tom. viii. p. 2.
Pyrrhocorax finvyh;;-, Temm. Maa. d’Orn., 2nd edit. tom. i. p. 122.
i'Hpestrix, Brehm, Vôg. DeutschL, p. 175.
Frtyùui yrtcuÎM, Cuv. Règn. Ànim., 1817, tom. i. p. 406.
c tLrop&gs, Ltss. Traité d’Orn., p. 324.
erylkroptu, Swains. Class, of Birds, vol. ii. p. 268.
Cvracia gracula, Gray & Mitch. Gen. Of Birds, vol. ii. p. 321.
Ghobgh, Cornish Chough, and Red-legged Crow are three of the trivial names by which this bird is commonly
known. It was formerly much more numerous in the British Isl ands than it is now. lVIicn I was a
boy it occurred plentifully at the Needles, in the Isle of Wight; and it was there that I killed the specimens
figured in my ‘Birds of Europe.’ To say that the bird has totally disappeared from that place, the neigh-
Beachy Mead, and Shakspeare’s Cliff at Dover would perhaps not be deviating from the truth. Now
ii» 'cep and precipitous chalk rocks, and the closely cropped downs at their backs, have undergone
to' -.cge, and consequently are as well suited to the habits of the bird as in former times,
it >f &.» of the relentless gunner and egg-collecfors which have either extirpated it or driven
ii »»i t 'iiw.r localities. On some of the cliffs of the south coast of England it still holds its owu,
'■# «* b* the following note received a short time since from W. R. Glennie, Esq. Writing
jWPf15 *-■' Swsinai; - 'Jiis' gentleman says:—“ You asked me whether I had met with Choughs
coisi ■ we we re talking then of Devon, perhaps the question had reference to
■' end* bat 1 send a line to say that I find them pretty frequent here on
* saw jirww v.ciiv yesterday in a walk of about eight miles along the coast, between
h aaineridge. ¿wxi stood behind a stone wall watching one pegging away for beetles within
* In his ‘ List of British Birds,’ Mr. Rodd states that the Chough is much less numerous
in f - b u n formerly, but is still sparingly observed in different localities along the coast, and that it
fiy in Zennor Cliffs. It is numerous in many parts of Wales aud in the Isle of Man, is
*rv >» Islay, Galloway, aud some of the western islands of Scotland, but appears to be comparatively
■ #«• • m>rth-eaaten> parts of that country. Thompson states that it inhabits the precipitons rocks
•! .-•.»» of Ireland Teimninck informs us that on the European continent it inhabits the high Alps
of' SritKflHmnl, Italy, the Tyrol, Bavaria, and Carinthia, and that in rigorous winters it accidentally
occurs on ekvtied mountains, such as the Jura aud the Vosges, always in the vicinity of regions
Mr. Howard Saunders found it abundant in the mountain-districta of Southern Spain,
k <»f the Sierra Nevada. It is said to inhabit the island of Crete; but Lord Lifford
■ meet with ii in Turkey or Greece ; vet, according to Loche, it frequents the nearly
>.» of Algeria, and it was seen in large docks near Tetuan, in Eastern Morocco, by Mr.
-kr . The Rev. H. B. Tristram did not meet with it on the Lebanon, where, he
-,'h* to be. Whether it ever occurs in Northern Russia or Siberia is a question I
?'**■ bird o f this form that exists there may prove to be the very different Fregilus
covered w&
especially af
remarks tbs
° n " i i
c . J Tyi
remarks, it s
am unable to
himalauanut.
Many of th e action# A «be Chough remind
both during flight and **n the ground;
reconciled to the aviary, where its inquisitive
it is fond of petty thieving, particularly of aay
dwells among the rocks on the sea-side; it is
mountainous districts. Its eggs, which the c
to procure, in consequence of the excessive cauti
the Rev. W. D. Fox informed Mr. Hewitson, ar
clefts fur in, the passage.to which turns at right
see it. The n est is outwardlv composed of stic!
very fine roots, grass, and wool. The eggs are
us of the Jackdaw, It is very active in its movements,
is cheerful and happy under restraint, and readily becomes
disposition renders it very amusing. Like its congener,
thing that is glittering. In the British Islands it mostly
not, therefore, to be sought for inland, except in high and
d lector always looks upon with interest, are very difficult
on of the birds in selecting their places of nidification, which,
e always on the face of the steepest cliffs, and in general in
angles frequently, so that you cannot reach die nest, or even
», succeeded by a quantity of roots and dry grass, lined with
easily known from those of any of the Crow-kiud ; they are