67 
fender in flying down from his cage: since then he has refused to 
fly down, except on one occasion, when his curiosity was specially 
aroused by a piece of tinsel paper: each other time a chair has 
had to be put for him, before he would start to come down. Asa 
rule he takes a bath twice a week, and if I forget to give him his 
bath he reminds me of it by upsetting his water bowl. This 
evening he was using his hunger-cry (although he had had a big 
meal): upon taking him water several times, he upset it and 
cortinued his cries: as soon as his bath appeared though, he was 
down from his cage in a minute, and into the bath with cries of 
joy: 
(December 3rd). In using his beak as a weapon, the side 
twist and the shake are as effective as the straight blow. If he 
seizes your finger, when angry, the quick side twist is more 
serious than the actual pressure, or the hard peck. The power of 
this movement is wonderful. So with his food, the powerful shake 
seems to tear it as much as the peck. ‘o-day, while. he was 
eating a rabbit, each morsel received a tremendous shake, which 
sent pieces flying from it for nine or ten yards: this shake also rids 
the food of superfluous gravel. His beak is his great care, he 
can’t bear any foreign body upon it, and cleans it continually: he 
notices the smallest thing upon it, and yet he will drive a hole 
_ through the thickest cardboard with one blow-of it. 
(December 10th). A series of trials have been made, to 
_ determine how far a raven is a bird of prey when pressed by 
hunger. On July 20th a young bird. was given him: he at first 
_ exhibited as much terror as the bird, he then pecked at it but did 
_ not quite reach it. Finally he seized it with his claw and crushed 
it to death against the perch, then plucked it and devoured it. On 
November 20th a live rabbit was given him: he viewed it for 
some time, then struck at its head, then viewed it again for some 
_ time and struck at its back, then he left it alone and did not try to 
_ kill it; his pecks were apparently exploratory. Another trial was 
made with a live rabbit in December, after 36 hours.starvation, but 
even then he seemed incapable of killing the animal, although he 
_ several times struck at it’s eyes. When given dead rabbits he 
_ invariably went for the eyes first, and then attempted (after getting 
out the brain) to open the abdomen; but up to December his 
strength of beak was not. sufficient ‘to open the animal. By 
_. December 10th he had acquired the power of opening the rabbit’s 
_ abdomen himself, always previously eating out the eyes. 
In summing up the above facts and others, Mr. Reid pointed 
a out what might “be considered as hereditary instincts, and what 
acquired intelligence, and commented on the advantage of experi- 
_ ™menting upon a bird when quite young. The hiding instinct is 
F “obviously hereditary, but the memory of hiding places is only 
_ acquired after some time. (January, 1887. Quilp now has a good 
_ Memory for hiding places). The appreciation of transparent 
