Chough (Fregilus), a genus of birds of the crow family (Corvidæ). The beak is longer than the head, strong, arched, and pointed. The tail is slightly rounded. The common European species, sometimes called the Cornish Chough, or Red-legged Crow (F. graeulus), is a widely distributed but very local bird, inhabiting the Alps and other mountainous parts of the palæarctic region. In Cornish folklore King Arthur did not die, but was changed into a chough, and it is interesting to find this English belief alluded to in Don Quixote (ii. 5), though here the bird is erroneously made a raven. Shakespeare in King Lear (IV. vi.) confounds the chough with the jackdaw; and in Midsummer-Night's Dream (III. ii.) actually speaks of 'russet-pated choughs.' The chough occurs on some parts of the British sea-coasts, but almost exclusively confined to situations where there are high cliffs. Its long hooked claws enable it to cling easily to a rough rock, but it seems unwilling even to set its feet on turf. It lives in societies like the rook, and feeds on insects, berries, grubs, and grain. It is easily tamed, becomes very familiar and forward, and exhibits in the highest degree the curiosity, the pilfering disposition, and the delight in brilliant or glittering objects which also characterise others of the crow family. The name is sometimes extended to allied forms, such as Pyrrhocorax alpinus (Alpine Chough).