416 THE CHOUGH. 



developed. The shafts then radiate on all sides from the top of the head, reaching in 

 front beyond and below the tip of the beak, which is completely hidden from view. The 

 top then forms a perfect, slightly elongated dome, of a beautiful shining blue colour, 

 having a point of divergence rather behind the centre, like that in the human head. The 

 length of this dome from front to back is about five inches, the breadth four to four and a 

 half inches.' 



Scarcely less curious than the " umbrella," as this overhanging plume is very 

 appropriately named, is a bunch of elongated feathers that hang from the breast in a tuft, 

 perfectly distinct from the rest of the plumage. The pecidiarity in this tuft is, that the 

 feathers of which it ie composed do not grow from the neck, but from a cylindrical fleshy 

 gi'owth, about as thick as an ordinary goose-quill and an inch and a half long. The whole 

 of tliis curious appendage is covered with feathers, so that the breast tuft is wholly 

 distinct from the feathers of the neck and breast. The entire skin of the neck is 

 extremely loose, more so than in any other bird, according to Mr. Wallace. The feathers 

 of this tuft are edged with a beautiful and resplendent blue, and lap over each other like 

 so many scales. 



The food of the Umbrella Bird consists chiefly of ben'ies and various fruits, and it 

 always rejects the hard stones of stone fruit. As its cry is extremely loud and deep, the 

 natives call the bird by a name which signifies a pipe. 



Of the next little group of Corvidie, named the Pyrrhocoracinas, or Scarlet Crows, in 

 allusion to the red bill and legs of some of the species, England possesses a good example 

 in the common Chough. In all these birds the beak is long, slender, slightly curved 

 downwards, and with a small notch at the extremity. 



The Chough is essentially a coast bird, loving rocks and stones, and having a great 

 dislike to grass or hedges of every kind. When in search of food it will venture for some 

 little distance inland, and has been observed in the act of ibllowing the ploughman after 

 the manner of the rook, busily engaged in picking up the grubs that are unearthed. 

 Sometimes it mil feed upon berries and grain, but evidently prefers animal food, pecking 

 its prey out of the crevices among the rocks with great rapidity and certainty of aim, its 

 long and curved beak aiding it in drawing the concealed insects out of their liiding-places. 

 Cornwall is the chief nesting-place of the Chough, but it is also found in many other 

 portions of England and the British Isles ; and the celebrated lines in "King Lear" are 

 too familiarly known to need quoting as a proof that the Chough was in Shakespeare's 

 time an inhabitant of the Dover cliffs. It is also found in many otlier parts of the world, 

 having been observed in Europe, Asia, and several districts of Africa. 



The character of the Chough is not uidike that of the Magpie, and is so admirably 

 delineated by Montagu in an account of a tame specimen in his possession, that it must 

 be related in his own words. 



" His curiosity is beyond bounds, never failing to examine anything new to him. If 

 the gardener is pruning, he examines the nail-box, carries off the nails, and scatters the 

 shreds about. Should a ladder be left against the wall, he instantly mounts and goes all 

 round the top of the wall ; and if hungry, descends at a convenient place and immediately 

 travels to the kitchen-window, where he makes an incessant knocking with his bill till he 

 is fed or let in : if allowed to enter, his first endeavour is to get upstairs, and if not 

 interrupted, goes as high as he can, and gets into any room in the attic storey ; but his 

 intention is to get upon the top of the house. He is excessively fond of being caressed, 

 and \\ould stand quietly by the hour to be smoothed, but resents an affront with violence 

 and effect both by bill and claws, and will hold so fast by the latter that he is with 

 dithcnlty disengaged. Is extremely attached to one lady, upon the back of whose chair 

 he will sit for hours, and is particularly fond of making one in a party at breakfast, or in 

 a summer's evening at the tea-table in the shrubbery. 



llis natural food is evidently the smallest insects ; even the minute species he picks 

 out of the crevices tif the walls, and searches for them in summer with great diligence. 

 Tlie common grasshopper is a great dainty, and the fern chaffer is another favourite 

 morsel : these are swallowed whole ; bul if the great chaffer be given to him, be places it 



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