It only differs from the preceding in its size, and in the tail being rounded instead of wedge-shaped. Its whole length is eighteen inches. Its plumage is black, with some tints of violet on the upper part of the body. PECULIAR QUALITIES.--The carrion crow is one of the commonest birds; in the groves, which it likes best, it congregates in such numbers that twenty nests have been built on the same tree[18]; the eggs are spotted with grey or olive brown on a green ground. The young may be taken from the nest in the month of March, or even earlier if the winter be mild they are treated and fed like the former species. The carrion crow is even more easily tamed, for I have seen old ones, which have been taught to go and come, and others in their wild state, which have regularly fed in the yard going in the spring to breed in the woods, and returning at the beginning of the winter to pass that season in a domestic state. Insects, worms, mice, fruit, and grain form its principal food in its wild state. MODE OF TAKING.--The easiest and most usual method is with paper cones, at the bottom of which is put a bit of meat, and bird-lime on the inner edges. It may also be caught with lime twigs placed in the yard, or before the house, on horse dung and among scattered grain. THE HOODED CROW. Corvus Cornix, LINNÆUS; La Corneille Mantelée, BUFFON; Die Nebelkrähe, BECHSTEIN. This species, a little larger than the preceding, is grey, with the head, throat, wings, and tail black. In the winter it is found over almost all Europe, but during summer it inhabits more northern parts, where it builds in groves and orchards near open fields: its eggs are bright green streaked and spotted with brown. If taken young it is tamed and taught to speak more easily than the carrion crow. THE JACK-DAW. [Illustration] Corvus Monedula, LINNÆUS; Le Chocas, BUFFON; Die Dohle, BECHSTEIN. This bird is naturally half tame, and if reared from the nest it will voluntarily remain in the yard with the poultry. It makes its nest in old buildings, houses, castles, towers, and churches: its eggs are green, spotted with dark brown and black. It is not so much to teach it to speak that people like to rear young jack-daws, but to see it go and return at call. Even old ones that are taken in autumn may be accustomed to this, cutting the wings at first, and again in the spring, so that as they grow again the bird learns by degrees to come to a certain call. During winter it will always come into the yard. The size of the jack-daw is that of the pigeon, thirteen or fourteen inches in length. The back of the head is light grey, the rest of the body black. When in winter it eats wild garlic, in the fields it smells very strongly of it, and does not lose the scent till it has been a week in the house. THE JAY. Corvus glandarius, LINNÆUS; Le Geai, BUFFON; Der Holzeher, BECHSTEIN.