76 FIELD-STUDIES OF RARER BIRDS 



all help it to an air of special distinction. It is 

 decidedly sedentary, inasmuch as it clings to its 

 haunt at all seasons, and trees it shuns altogether. 

 Its food, which, amongst other delicacies, com- 

 prises beetles, spiders, grubs, and certain sorts of 

 worms, it obtains in the open : yet, as opposed to 

 the example of most creatures which affect exposed 

 places, it is often extremely confiding : feeding 

 Choughs may sometimes be cautiously approached 

 to within the simplest of shots. Sometimes a 

 pair, or even a solitary bird, is encountered feeding ; 

 sometimes a flock or small party mess together. 

 The Chough delights in loose and sandy, or, at 

 any rate, friable soil in which to delve for prey, 

 where its curved and sensitive bill is specially 

 adapted for the work, and particularly for being 

 wormed into crevices and crannies. A pair 

 feeding in company is a fascinating sight. At 

 first both birds are close together. Then one of 

 them runs nimbly for several yards, stops, preens 

 its glossy plumage, and finally beckons to its mate 

 with a clear kwaar of welcome, flicking up its 

 wings and tail simultaneously. At this point the 

 other starts by walking towards it sedately, halting 

 at intervals. Presently it indulges in a few big 

 leaps, and now, side by side, both birds, with bill 

 slightly open, pluck greedily at the loose turf, 

 either with rapid, business-like, pickaxe strokes, or 

 with sweeping, sidelong scoops. At each action 

 the soil flies up in miniature showers. If a slit or 



