. Birds. Birds. CORTrS. 31 Description. The whole pkunage black ; the head, ueck and lower plumage richly glossed with j)urplish blue, the upper plumage with violet-])urple ; tlie base of the bill and face without any feathers and showing np white. The Eastern race differs from the typical bird in being smaller and especiall}'- in having a smaller, more slender bill. Colours of soft parts. 13111 and feet black; iris deep brown; facial skin white. Measurements. Total length about 480 mm. or less ; wing about 30U mm.; tail about IGO mm.; culmen 52 to 60 mm. The Nestling is without any gloss at f
. Birds. Birds. CORTrS. 31 Description. The whole pkunage black ; the head, ueck and lower plumage richly glossed with j)urplish blue, the upper plumage with violet-])urple ; tlie base of the bill and face without any feathers and showing np white. The Eastern race differs from the typical bird in being smaller and especiall}'- in having a smaller, more slender bill. Colours of soft parts. 13111 and feet black; iris deep brown; facial skin white. Measurements. Total length about 480 mm. or less ; wing about 30U mm.; tail about IGO mm.; culmen 52 to 60 mm. The Nestling is without any gloss at first, but quickly assumes it. Until about 10 to 12 mouths old the face is fully feathered ; the nasal bristles are cast, and by the time the bird is a year old the face is entirely denuded of feathers. Whitehead says that the Eastern form does not shed its facial feathers until April or until it is practically a year Fir. 6.— of C. f. tsc/m.'^ii. Nidification. The Eastern Eook breeds in Persia, Turkestan and Xorth-West Siberia, ami probably Ladakh. A nest taken for me by a native collecter was built on a small tree and contained three eggs, similar to those of the Common Hook and measuring 34-0 X 26-0 ; 33-6 x 25-9 ; and 34-1 x 25-0 mm. The female ^\•as shot on the nest. Habits. The Eastern Book is a very common winter visitor to the North-West Himalayas and occasionally wanders into the plains, liaving been killed at Abbottabad. Whitehead and Magrath report it as visiting Kohat in enormous numbers. The Eook frequents the better cultivated parts of the country and feeds in ploughed and grass-covered lands on worms, snails, grubs and grasshoppers, etc. In Europe the Western form breeds in large societies but there is little on record about the Eastern Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble th
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1922
