THE CHOUGH 61 



assortment of snail-shells, stones, bits of paper or wood, etc., which it 

 greatly cherished. It regarded any attempt to examine the contents 

 of the box as an unpardonable liberty, flying at the offender with 

 loud protests, and emphasising its displeasure with digs from the sharp 

 red beak. Another tame chough has been observed to hide its food, 

 also to rub in the soil, before eating them, the scraps of meat it was 

 given, a proceeding the exact contrary to that of herons, who may 

 be seen taking scraps to the water in order to wash them before 

 swallowing. 1 



The chough pairs for life. Little is known of its love displays. 

 The male has, however, been seen to manifest his affection for his 

 mate by softly rubbing the back of her head with the underside of 

 his coral beak. Like the rook, he also makes a point of bringing her 

 succulent morsels, a fresh red worm or a juicy grub, which she 

 receives much in the attitude of a young bird begging for food, her 

 wings trailing and mouth wide open, expectant, vociferous. These 

 two simple acts, the one expressive of the desire to touch the 

 beloved, be close to her, caress her; and the other, the desire to 

 please her with gifts, have their equivalents, be it noted, in the 

 courtships of many other animals, including man himself. Billing, 

 cosseting, hand-clasps, kisses, giving chocolate, worms, bracelets, 

 are after all merely different ways of doing the same thing. They 

 provide that touch of nature which makes the whole world kin. 2 



Formerly the chough used to make its nest frequently in ruins, 

 both in this country and in Switzerland. In the latter country they 

 have, during the last fifty years, owing, it is said, to the buildings 

 being rendered unsuitable by renovation, left them for the mountain 

 heights. In this country they now rarely breed away from cliffs by 

 the sea, and often return to the same nesting place year after year. 

 They are seldom, if ever, found nesting in colonies ; each pair prefers 



1 Zoologisches Garten, 1877, pp. 146-164 (A. Girtanner) ; Field, 1907, June ( J. Walpole Bond) ; 

 Journal fur Ornithologie, 1857, p. 277 (Bolle). 



2 For the sexual displays of the chough I am indebted to R. J. Ussher and R. Warren, 

 Birds of Ireland, 1900, p. 84. 



