114 STORIES ABOUT B/TDS. 



refuse carrion. Indeed, their sense of smell is quite as acute as the vulture's. 

 They have great courage, and they are very sociable, and live in communities. 

 When properly educated they can talk like the parrot, and their cunning, 

 mischievous ways and droll tricks show a quickness and sagacity that no other 

 birds possess. 



The chough is not very common in England. He is known from the 

 true crows by the colour of his beak, that is red, and is different in shape 

 from theirs. He lives entirely by the sea-coast, and walks along on the most 

 giddy heights, thanks to his strong legs and toes. 



There is a passage in the play of " King Lear " in which '"he chough is 

 mentioned : — 



" How fearful 

 And dizzy 'tis, to cast one's eyes so low ! 

 The crows and choughs, that wing the midway air, 

 Show scarce so gross as beetles. Half way down 

 Hangs one that gathers samphire ; dreadful trade ! 

 The fishermen, that walk upon the beach, 

 Appear like mice. The murmuring surge, 

 That on the unnumbered idle pebbles chafes, 

 Cannot be heard so high !" 



The cliff of which the poet speaks is at Dover, and is well stocked with 

 choughs. There is a story that they came there by accident. The whole 

 colony are said to be descended from one pair of birds, which came from some 

 gentleman's garden and settled there. 



There are many other steep places about the coast where the choughs 

 live ; and he is so partial to Cornwall as to be called the Cornish chough, and 

 the old Cornish families had the figure of the bird graven on their armour. 

 He wears, as you see, the black suit of his race, glossed with blue. His beak, 

 legs, and toes are vermilion red, while his claws are a shining black. 



The voice of the chough is very shrill, and may often be heard in the 

 places where he is found. He has even been caught and tamed, and then he 

 was found to be a very amusing pet. He has all the curiosity of his race, and 

 pries into everything that is at all new to him. A tame chough that was kept 

 in a garden performed all kinds of ridiculous antics. When the gardener was 

 nailing up the fruit-trees by the wall, the chough would peep and pry into the 

 nail-box, and turn everything over. Then he would carry off as many nails 

 as he could, and leave bits of cloth and shreds littered all over the walk. If 



