COR 



COR 



tenacious were they of this situation, 

 that they returned to it for ten successive 

 years. 



C. monedula, the jackdaw. These birds 

 are about the size of a small pigeon, 

 though not qui'.e so thick. In England 

 they are stationary ; in France, Austria, 

 and Denmark, in different degrees, mi- 

 gratory. They rarely build their nests 

 in trees, preferring 1 the ruins of human 

 habitations, or of churches and towers, 

 where their eggs and young are more 

 beyond the reacli of depredating school- 

 boys. They sometimes lay in rabbit 

 holes. They are domesticated with great 

 facility, and may be taught to utter a 

 considerable number of words. They 

 are, like the raven, much addicted to 

 concealment and pilfering, hiding not 

 only their food, but a variety of toys 

 and trinkets, a circumstance which has 

 not unfrevj-aently brought suspicion and 

 disgrace upon the most honest and 

 faithful domestics. See Aves, Plate IV. 

 fig. 5. 



C. glandarius, the jay. The jay weighs 

 about seven ounces, and is about thirteen 

 inches long. Its colours are beautifully ar- 

 ranged, and it attracts by its appearance 

 that favourable and delighted attention, 

 which is somewhat counteracted by its 

 harsh and chattering sounds. It is re- 

 garded by the sportsman with no little 

 aversion, as its vigilance is ever upon the 

 alert, and on the tirst sight of an enemy 

 it utters tliose screaming sounds of alarm, 

 which warn all within its reach of danger, 

 and defeat the hopes and aims of their ad- 

 versary. Us nest is built of sticks, roots, 

 and tender twigs, in the woods, and the 

 young continue with their parents till the 

 following season, when they withdraw and 

 form establishments of their own. Jays 

 feed on almost all sorts of seeds and fruits, 

 on nuts and acorns, and occasionally on 

 eggs, and even chickens. They are some- 

 times kept in a cage, but almost uniformly 

 lose in this confinement all the beauty of 

 their plumage. They will imitate with 

 great ease and accuracy a variety of 

 sounds, and articulate a considerable 

 number of words; and, by this acquired 

 talent, have sometimes produced consi- 

 derable mischief, setting on dogs to worry 

 cattle, calling the dogs by their names, in 

 imitation of the shepherd's voice ; and 

 they appear greatly to enjoy the specta- 

 cle of confusion and distress which they 

 thus produce. This jay is not found in 

 the south, beyond Greece or Italy, and is 

 unknown in Ireland and America. See 

 Aves, Plate IV. fig. 6. 



C. pica, the magpie. This bird is ex- 

 tremely common in England, and is found 

 in most countries between Sweden and 

 Italy in Europe. In America it has not 

 been long known, but was discovered in 

 considerable numbers by Lewis and 

 Clarke on the Missouri, and by Pike; and 

 by the testimony of these travellers it 

 does not appear to be migratory, as the 

 latter met with them when the degree of 

 cold was excessive ; where this bird 

 abounds, the blue jay (C. crislatus) is not 

 found. Though its colours consist only 

 of black and white, yet these are attended 

 with such extraordinary bloom and radi- 

 ance, that the plumage of one seen in a 

 perfect state of nature will excite a very 

 high sensation of beauty. It may easily 

 be brought up in a state of domestication, 

 and will speak with great ease many 

 phrases with all the readiness of the par- 

 rot, though not with his distinct and accu- 

 rate enunciation. It feeds much like the 

 crow on promiscuous substances. It con- 

 structs its nest with peculiar dexterity, 

 not only covering the bottom with materi- 

 als of a soft and downy texture, for the 

 comfort of its young, but fixing the en- 

 trance at the side, and wattling, of appro- 

 priate substances, a complete roof for its 

 habitation, which is thus rendered warm, 

 dry, and secure. 



C. graculus, the red-legged crow, is 

 common on the coasts of Devonshire and 

 Cornwall, England ; in Kent, Wales, and 

 Scotland also, it is to be found. It is a 

 turbulent, bold, and clamorous bird, 

 builds every where in rocky situations, is 

 voracious, and often seen snatching from 

 its companions locusts or juniper berries, 

 which constitute its favourite food. It flies 

 in circles, and resembles the jackdaw in 

 some particulars of its manners, being 

 equally prone to pilfer and hide. It is 

 fond of glare, and has been known to 

 snatch up burning sticks from the hearth, 

 and place them in situations, where, if 

 unobserved, they must have produced 

 destructive conflagrations. 

 CORUNDUM, in mineralogy. Though 

 corundum appears to have been known to 

 Dr. Woodward, it may be said to have 

 been first distinguished from other mine* 

 rals by Dr. Black. In 1768, Mr. Berry, 

 a lapidary in Edinburgh, received a box 

 of it from Dr. Anderson of Madras. Dr. 

 Black ascertained that these specimens 

 differed from all the stones known to Eu- 

 ropeans ; and, in consequence of its hard- 

 ness, it obtained the name of adamantine 

 spar. It is found in Hindustan, not far 

 from the river Cavery, which is south of 



