Chough

Chough (Pyrrhocorax graculus), a somewhat rare British bird of the Crow family, now confined to the high cliffs of the south-western counties, though it formerly ranged inland, and eastward to Kent, (Lear iv. 6). The male is about seventeen inches long, and has jet-black plumage, glossed with steel-blue; the beak, legs, and toes are coral-red. The female is smaller, and the hue of her plumage is not so decided. These birds feed on insects, crustaceans, and berries, sometimes on grain, and, it is said, on carrion. The nest, containing four or five eggs, yellowish, marked with light-brown, is generally made in a hole in lofty rocks or in some ruin. The epithet "russet-pated" (Midsummer Nights Bream, iii. 2) is probably a misreading for "russet-patted" (= red-footed), which is adopted in the Clarendon Press edition of the play. P. alpinus is the Alpine Chough.