8G Mr, C. F. M. Swynnerton on 



at it two or three times, but then definitely abandoned it 

 and took no notice of another (fresh) specimen that I then 

 offered; but she eagerly ate some grasshoppers. 



560. Nov. 29. — Do birds know by inherited instinct what 

 is good for food ? On my placing a glossy, intensely hard, 

 large seed of the Ceara rubber-tree [Manihot glaziovii) in the 

 cage (which, by the way, still contained uneaten grasshoppers 

 and termites), the Babbler commenced to search about as 

 she always does after her tray has been pulled out and pushed 

 back again. Finding the seed after a few seconds, she sub- 

 jected it to a tremendous hammering. Occasionally she 

 \v'ould rub it in the earth, but more often she would steady it 

 as already described in connection with Oetoniidse, and launch 

 blow after blow at it with all her force. I watched for ten 

 minutes, and at the end of that time the bird was still con- 

 tinuing the attack with an occasional short interval for rest ; 

 and was, moreover, following the seed up with the greatest 

 zest each time it glanced away from a blow. 



561. Dec. 28. — Accepted a large water-bug, Laccotrephes 

 ater, a most leathery and unpromising insect ; deposited it 

 on the ground and hammered at it with great force and per- 

 sistence, sometimes steadying it with her claw, sometimes 

 turning it over on to its other surface, but usually choosing 

 the lower surface for attack. At the end of ^ve minutes I 

 removed the bug. It was covered with small shiny marks 

 caused by the point of the Babbler's bill, but was actually 

 perforated in only one place — on the lower surface of the 

 abdomen. Both walking-legs on the left side were gone, 

 the bird having once or twice seized it by a leg and battered 

 it on the ground till that came off. 



On my now reoffering the bug she at once renewed her 

 attack, and at the end of a further five minutes succeeded in 

 removing one of the elytra, after having already broken 

 off the two remaining walking-legs. She had repeatedly 

 attacked the claspers, but their attachment to the body must 

 be exceedingly strong, for she quite failed to loosen them — 

 a useful provision for an animal that uses them for capturing 

 prey that may sometimes be large and active. Finally, 



