30 
The Birds of Pembrokeshire. 
beyondhisreach inadeep hole in the roof of the cavern. Inanother 
case, also at St. David’s, the nest was placed under an extremely 
over-hanging cliff of purple silurian, in a hole six or eight feet 
deep. This hole was some 4o feet from the rocks below, and 
was impregnable, as it could neither be reached from the summit 
nor fromthe shore. I have known a third placed in a narrow 
chasm, 150 feet in depth, and with walls of rock as sheer as the 
sides of a house.” In former days, Mr. Phelps says, according 
to tradition, the Choughs nested in the ruins of the Bishop’s 
Palace at St. David’s, until they were driven out by Jackdaws, 
but as the nests could there have been easily robbed, he sus- 
pects they were “human Jackdaws.” The nest, he states, is 
large, and lined with wool. He one day saw a large flock of 
Choughs wheeling about the lofty rocky promontory known as 
Dinas Head. We have seen the Chough on Ramsey Island. 
His longer wings and more buoyant flight serve easily to dis- 
tinguish him from the Jackdaw, and his cry is also unmistakable. 
Our friend, Mr. Mortimer Propert, of St. David’s, possesses 
some beautiful clutches of Chough’s eggs, all taken by himself 
on his romantic coast. Some of his eggs are the largest we 
have ever seen, and are slightly pyriform, like varieties we have 
seen of other species of Corvéde. Young Choughs are very 
easily tamed, and are very familiar and impudent. One kept by 
Mr. Tracy was omnivorous in its diet, and liked to have its 
head scratched by children. ‘ When alone he is constantly 
chattering, squalling, and making a variety of noises, but I have 
not heard him distinctly articulate any word yet, although he 
appears equally capable with the Parrot.” Mr. Samuel Gurney, 
writing to the Zoologist for 1857, describes the ruins of Manor- 
beer Castle, near Tenby, as being at that date frequented by 
Choughs ‘‘which bred there in great abundance.” He was 
told by the village schoolmaster that in the breeding season 
and in the winter the Choughs were very tame, collecting 
in numbers around the school-room door at the time the 
school broke up in order to pick up pieces of bread thrown to 
them by the children. An anecdote was told him of one 
