268 LORD LILFORD 



the Eed-legged or Cornish Chough, but although 

 they thrive well in complete liberty, I have found 

 it impossible to keep them in health in the aviary 

 for any length of time. 



' Other most lively and amusing inmates of 

 this part of the aviary are the Nutcrackers — rare 

 and irregular stragglers of the Crow family to 

 our country, but common enough in many of the 

 forests of Central and Northern Europe. These 

 birds, in their native haunts, commence laying 

 in March, whilst the snow still lies deep upon 

 the ground. Whether from this or some other 

 cause it is, comparatively speaking, only of 

 recent years that the eggs of the Nutcrackers 

 have become generally known to ornithologists, 

 and I had offered a high price for the living bird 

 to English and foreign dealers for thirty years 

 before I could obtain even one of them. During 

 the last few years I have been offered many more 

 of these birds than I require. The seeds of various 

 coniferous trees, especially those of Pimis cembra, 

 are the favourite food of the Nutcracker. 



1 The farthest division of the aviary, divided 

 into three compartments, I have devoted princi- 

 pally to aquatic birds, amongst which a small 



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