P yrrhocorax graculus (Linnaeus*).
THE CHOUGH.
Fregilus graculus.
P yrrhocorax, Tunstall f . Beak h a rd , slender, compressed, arched, an d
pointed. N o strils basal, h id d en b y small, closely-set fe a th e rs. Wings long and
g rad u a ted | first p rim a ry much s h o rte r th a n th e second, an d ab o u t h a lf as° long
as th e th ird , th e fo u rth th e longest. Tail n e arly even. F e e t strong, ta rsu s
longer th a n th e mid d le toe, to which th e o u te r toe is u n ite d as fa r as its first
jo in t ; claws strong an d much curved.
T h e Chough in England is not a common bird, and is
nowadays almost exclusively confined to the neighbourhood
of the bolder parts of the sea-coast of the southern and
western counties, where it inhabits the higher cliffs, though
it apparently frequented a good many inland localities in
foimer times. Merrett in 1667 speaks of it as found “ in
* Corvus graculus, Linnams, Syst. Nat. Ed. 12, i. p. 158 (1766).
t Orn. B rit. p. 2 (1771).
omnibus oris maritimis a Cornubia ad Doroberniam* ”, and
there is poetical authority, at least, for its existence near
Dover at a much earlier date. Shakespear, in his well-
known description of the celebrated cliff which now bears
his name, says in reference to its height:—
The Crows an d Choughsf, th a t wing th e midway air,
Shew scarce so gross as beetles. i^King Lear, Ac t iv. Sc. 6.
Gilbert White wrote in 1773 that these birds abounded and
bred on Beachy Head, and in all the cliffs of the Sussex
coast; but both in that county and in Kent the species is
now believed to be extinct—indeed it seems to have been lost
to the latter in Montagu’s time (1802). The Author has
seen it on the highest part of the cliffs between Freshwater
Gate and the Needles in the Isle of Wight; but its habitation
of this locality at present seems to be doubtful. In
the Isle of Purbeck a few pairs still remain from Studland
to Lulworth Cove—Gadcliff and St. Alban’s Head being
their stronghold. Further to the westward in Dorset the
species does not now occur, and its existence on the south
coast of Devon is questionable. In Cornwall, though very
far from abundant, it is more numerous, and has been so
long associated in popular estimation with that ancient
* Meaning no d o u b t Dover ; b u t i t may b e n o te d tb a t an o th e r Dorobernia,
th e city of C an terb u ry , be ars Choughs in its arms. P e n n a n t in th e editions of his
1 B ritish Zoology ’, p u b lish ed in 1776, said th a t th e y were found in small numb e rs
on Dover Cliff, “ where th ey came by a c c i d e n t a p a ir sen t from Cornwall h aving
“ escaped, a n d stocked th ese rocks.” No d a te is given, b u t as th e passage is n o t
in h is e a rlie r editions, we m ay in fe r th a t th e ev en t was recent. M e rre tt’s testimony,
which was possibly unknown to P en n an t, induces th e opinion th a t h e was m isin formed,
or else th a t h is s ta tem e n t re fe rs to a re sto ra tio n of th e species to its old
haunts.
f The word Chough was doubtless to some e x te n t in te rchangeable w ith Daw
in Sh akespear’s tim e , as i t is a t th is day, even in Cornwall, according to in fo rm a tion
received by th e E d ito r from Mr. D. Stephens, of Trevornan. B u t th a t th e
poet was a cq u a in ted w ith th e p re sen t species is proved b y th e e p ith e t ‘ ‘ ru sset-
pated ” ap p lied to i t by h im in an o th e r place (Midsummer N ig h t’s Dream, Act
iii. Sc. 2). The me aning of th is e p ith e t h a s given rise to much ingenious d iscussion,
b u t th e la te Mr. E. T. B en n e tt, in 1835, doubtless supplied its tru e
explanation, when he suggested (Zool. Jo u rn . v. p. 496) th a t th e correct read in g
is “ ru s s e t-p a tte d ” i.e. “ re d -fo o te d ” {patte being a known eq u iv a len t of foot),
and th is view h a s been ad o pted by Mr. Aldis W rig h t in h is re c en t ed itio n of th e
play (Clarendon Press Series, pp . 30, 112).