246 JAYS, MAGPIES, &C. SUBJECT TO FITS. [PART II. 



the young birds would have ceased to depend on 

 the old ones. 



Tame Jays and Magpies, even when allowed 

 all the liberty consistent with a clipped wing, 

 appear to be very subject to cramp and fits, 

 which are often fatal to them. Of several indivi- 

 duals which I remember being reared at home, 

 not one, I think, survived these attacks, though 

 one or two attained their full growth. 



A tame Raven, which we had, was also simi- 

 larly affected, but he made his escape at a com- 

 paratively early period of his life. He used besides 

 to execute most extraordinary antics, making now 

 and then, all of a sudden, a desperate rush half 

 flying and half running, throwing a summerset as 

 he did it, and accompanying the performance 

 with a loud and peculiar croak. 



We at the time were inclined to attribute 

 these freaks to fits or insanity, but it was sug- 

 gested, and perhaps with truth, that his object 

 might have been simply to scratch his head. 

 Gilbert White in his Natural History of Sel- 

 borne mentions that he had noticed them turn 

 over during their flight, possibly, as he conjec- 

 tures, for that purpose, and perhaps our raven 

 could not, under the circumstances, have managed 



