THE CHOUOH. 2l7 



attention to the subject next spring; and I shall look forward with interest 

 for Mr. Morris's description of this bird, in his excellent ^'History" now in 

 progress. 



I myself can corroborate one part of Mr. Weir's accusation; that, namely^ 

 which relates to the egg stealing. 



In the month of May or June, 1848, whilst ^^^zoologizing" in Black Park, 

 Bucks., (a place dear to London Entomologists,) in company with my late 

 lamented friend, H. Fullar Farr, Esq., I observed a bird caught in a trap, 

 which the gamekeeper had fastened to the stem of a fir tree, about five feet 

 from the ground. On a nearer inspection I found that the trap was a com- 

 mon iron rat-trap, the handle of which had been tied fast to the tree by a 

 string above and below, so that it stood horizontally level; and it had been 

 baited with a small bird's egg. The prisoner was a Missel Thrush. 



This, at the time, created rnuch surprise in my mind, and more than once 

 have I thought of it since. The only explanation which ofiered itself was, 

 that the Thrush had been accidentally caught in a trap set for more notorious 

 plunderers, the shrieking Jay, or chattering Pie, who find in every gamekeeper 

 a sworn and implacable foe. But the recent perusal of Mr. Weir's numerous 

 authenticated acts of rapine and murder against Mr. Viscivorous, have con- 

 vinced me that he w^as, in this instance, most justly punished for his egg- 

 stealing propensities. 



In the hope that these remarks may be the means of bringing further 

 communications on the subject, I send them to your Magazine, 



London, August 14:th., 1852. 



THE CHOUGH. 



BY E. K. B. 



Mr. Knox, in his very delightful book, ^^Game Birds and Wild Fowl," 

 attributes the disappearance of the Chough from many parts of our coast to 

 the superior strength of the Jackdaw, whose hard conical beak is more than 

 a match for the graceful and slender bill of the Red-legged Crow, and states 

 that ^^some years ago he found great numbers of Choughs on the precipices 

 of Caldy Island, off the coast of Pembrokeshire, and procured several specimens; 

 but observed no Jackdaw, although he saw two or three pairs of Ravens, 

 who from time immemorial had lived on excellent terms with the Red-legged 

 Crow;" but he had been informed the Daw had since made its appearance, 

 in consequence of which he fears the doom of the Chough is sealed. 



Now with due deference and great respect for the high authority of Mr, 

 Knox on the subject of ornithology, I do not think the disappearance of the 

 Chough can be attributed to the persecution of the Daw. In the first place 

 I would ask, how it is that these two birds, which have ever lived together, 

 still continue to do so in considerable numbers in various parts, both of 



VOL. II. . 2 F 



