rolled up in the shape of a case, and baited with a piece of raw flesh; as the Crow introduces his head to devour the bait, which is in the narrow part, the paper, being besmeared with birdlime, sticks to the feathers of the neck, and he remains hooded; unable to rid his eyes of the bandage, he rises perpendicularly into the air, the better to avoid striking against anything, until, quite exhausted, he sinks down, always near the spot from which he mounted.

The Chough (Corvus Graculus) called the Cornish Chough, from its frequenting that county more than any other in Britain, is a less powerful bird than the Crow, and resorts generally to the sea-coasts, especially those that are washed by the Atlantic and the Channel, where there are rocks or lofty ruins to serve it for resting-places.

The Chough is black, with a tinge of violet, and the bill and legs are red. The bill being much weaker than that of the Crows in general, and curved nearly the whole of its length, is not adapted for the hard labour that those birds have sometimes to perform, its food is therefore of a somewhat different character; and as its claws are sharp and crooked, partaking more of a prehensile than scraping character, it is evidently a surface-feeder, and its food animal or soft vegetable matter, or both. There is much of these to be picked up on the shores, or the banks of rivers at the reflux of the waters, and there the Chough is to be found. It is likewise said to be fond of those wild berries which are generally abundant in the humid or marshy parts of the uplands, and these furnish it at least with a seasonal supply. It is said also to

feed on juniper berries. The nest is formed in the crevices of rocks about midway up the cliff, so as to be out of reach of danger both from below and above. The eggs are usually about four or five in number, rather longer than those of the Jackdaw, of a dull white colour, with spots of ash colour and pale brown.

Mr. Macgillivray, in his " History of British Birds," has given the following characteristic sketch of the habits of the Magpie. It is generally distributed in Britain, being more or less common in all the cultivated and wooded districts of England and Scotland, both in the interior and along the coast, although nowhere numerous, on account of the hostility of gamekeepers, gardeners, and sportsmen of all degrees. There, on the old ash that shadows the farm-yard, you may see a pair, one perched on the topmost twig, the other hopping among the branches, uttering an incessant chatter of short hard notes, scarcely resembling anything else in nature, but withal not unpleasant, at least to the lover of birds. How gracefully she of the top twig swings in the breeze. Off she starts, and directing her flight towards the fir wood opposite, proceeds with a steady, moderately rapid, but rather heavy flight, performed by quick beats of her apparently short wings, intermitted for a moment at intervals. Chattering by the way, she seems to call her mate after her; but he, intent on something which he has spied, hops downwards from twig to branch, and descends to the ground. Raising his body as high as possible, and carrying his tail inclined upwards, to avoid contact with the moist grass, he walks a few paces, and spying an earthworm half protruding from

its hole, drags it out by a sudden jerk, breaks it in pieces, and swallows it. Now under the hedge he has found a snail, which he will presently detach from its shell; but something among the bushes has startled him, and lightly he springs upwards, chattering the while, to regain his favourite tree. It is a cat, which, not less frightened than himself, runs off towards the house. The Magpie again descends, steps slowly over the green, looking from side to side, stops and listens, advances rapidly by a succession of leaps, and encounters a whole brood of chickens, with their mother at their heels. Were they unprotected how deliciously would the Magpie feast; but, alas! it is vain to think it, for, with fury in her eye, bristled plumage, and loud clamour, headlong rushes the hen, overturning two of her younglings, when the enemy suddenly wheels round, avoiding the encounter, and flies after his mate.

The food of the Magpie consists of testaceous mollusca, slugs, larvæ, worms, young birds, eggs, small quadrupeds, carrion, sometimes grain and fruits of different kinds, in search of which it frequents the fields, hedges, thickets, and orchards, occasionally visits the farm-yard, prowls among the stacks, perches on the housetop, whence it sallies at times and examines the dunghill and places around. Although it searches for larvæ and worms in the ploughed fields, it never ventures, like the Rook and several species of Gull, to follow the plough as it turns over each successive furrow.

On the ground it generally walks in the same manner as the Crows, but occasionally leaps in a side

long direction. It generally keeps in pairs all the year round, accompanies its young for some weeks after they first come abroad, and after the breeding season, retires at night to the copses or woods, where sometimes a considerable number meet together.

Closely resembling the Sturnide, or Starlings, in the form of its bill, the Nutcracker (Nucifraga) may be considered as the aberrant form of the present family. One species, the Nucifraga guttata, is not uncommon on the continent of Europe, but is a rare visitant to Britain. It is a handsome bird, about the size of a Magpie, or about thirteen inches in length, and a foot and a half in the stretch of the wings. The bill is perfectly straight and conic; the base being dilated, and dividing the frontal feathers; the tongue is long and forked at the tip. The general colour of the body is dusky brown, marked all over with triangular white spots. The crown of the head, wings, and tail are blackish, the latter marked with white at the tip; bill and legs dusky.

The Nutcracker seems to bear some resemblance to the genus Picus, in its capacity of ascending the trunks of trees, and in feeding on the various insects and larvæ that inhabit the bark and wood. It feeds likewise upon the kernels of nuts, acorns, beech-mast, the seeds of the Conifera, and other vegetable substances, which, in consequence of the hardness of their envelopes, remain on the ground for a considerable time, and serve as a store for nearly the whole season. The hardest of these it can readily break, and it is for this reason that it is called the Nutcracker. It resorts to mountainous districts, where

it dwells amongst the forests on the elevated slopes. From the retired nature of its habits very little is known of its domestic economy. It is said to nestle in the holes of trees, and where these are not to be met with suitable to the purpose, it is said to be capable of working them to the desired shape, or even of excavating one itself.