96 



HISTORY OF BIRDS. 



days longer. The place being thus deter- 

 mined upon, they begin to gather the materi- 

 als for their nest ; such as sticks and fibrous 

 roots, which they regularly dispose in the 

 most substantial manner. But here a new 

 and unexpected obstacle arises. It often 

 happens that the young couple have made 

 choice of a place too near the mansion of an 

 older pair, who do not choose to be incom- 

 moded by such troublesome neighbours. A 

 quarrel therefore instantly ensues, in which 

 the- old ones are always victorious. 



The young couple, thus expelled, are ob- 

 liged again to go through the fatigues of de- 

 liberating, examining and choosing; and 

 having taken care to keep their due distance, 

 the nest begins again, and their industry 

 deserves commendation. But their alacrity 

 is often too great in the beginning ; they soon 

 grow weary of bringing the materials of their 

 nest from distant places ; and they very easily 

 perceive that sticks may be provided nearer 

 home, with less honesty, indeed, but some 

 degree of address. Away they go, therefore, 

 to pilfer, as fast as they can ; and whenever 

 they see a nest unguarded, they take care to 

 rob it of the very choicest sticks of which it 

 is composed. But these thefts never go un- 

 punished ; and probably upon complaint being 

 made there is a general punishment inflicted. 

 I have seen eight or ten rooks come upon 

 such occasions, and, setting upon the new 

 nest of the young couple all at once, tear it 

 in pieces in a moment. 



At length, therefore, the young pair find 

 the necessity of going more regularly and 

 honestly to work. While one flies to fetch 

 the materials, the other sits upon the tree to 

 guard it ; and thus in the space of three or 

 four days, with a skirmish now and then be- 

 tween, the pair have fitted up a commodious 

 nest, composed of sticks without, and of fibrous 

 roots and long grass within. From the instant 

 the female begins \z lay, all hostilities are at 

 an end; not .-.one of the whole grove, that a 

 little before ^treated her so rudely, will now 

 venture to m'dlest her : so that she brings forth 

 her brood with patient tranquillity. Such is 

 the severity with which even native rooks are 

 treated by each other ; but if a foreign rook 

 should attempt to make himself a denizen of 

 their society, he would meet with no favour; 

 the whole grove would at once be up in arms 

 against him, and expel him without mercy. 



In some countries these birds are considered 

 as a benefit, in others as a nuisance : their 

 chief food is the worm of the door-beetle, and 

 corn; thus they may be said to do as much 

 service by destroying that noxious insect, as 

 they do injury by consuming the produce of 

 the husbandman's industry. 



To this tribe of the crow-kind, some foreign 



sorts might be added : I will take notice only 

 of one, which, from the extraordinary size and 

 fashion of its bill, must not be passed in 

 silence. 1 This is the Calao, or horned Indian 

 raven, which exceeds the common raven in 

 size, and habits of depredation. But what 

 he differs in from all other birds is the beak, 

 which by its length and curvature at the end, 

 appears designed for rapine ; but then it has 

 a kind of horn standing out from the top, 

 which looks somewhat like a second bill, and 

 gives this bird, otherwise fierce and ugly, a 

 very formidable appearance. The horn springs 

 out of the forehead, and grows to the upper 

 part of the bill, being of great bulk; so that 

 near the forehead it is four inches broad, not 

 unlike the horn of a rhinoceros, but more 

 crooked at the tip. Were the body of the 

 bird answerable in size to the head, the calao 

 would exceed in magnitude even the vulture or 

 the eagle. But the head and beak are out of all 

 proportion, the body being not much larger 

 than that of a hen. Yet even here there are 

 varieties ; for in such of those birds as come 

 from different parts of Africa, the body is pro- 

 portionable to the beak ; in such as come from 

 the Molucca islands, the beak bears no pro- 

 portion to the body. Of what use this extra- 

 ordinary excrescence is to the bird, is not easy 

 to determine; it lives, like others of its kind, 

 upon carrion, and seldom has a living enemy 

 to cope with. Nature seems to sport in the 

 production of many animals, as if she were 

 willing to exhibit instances as well of variety 

 as economy in their formation. 



CHAP. III. 



OF THE MAGPIE, AND ITS AFFINITIES. 



THERE are such a variety of birds that may 

 be distributed under this head, that we must 

 not expect very precise ideas of any. To 

 have a straight strong bill, legs formed for 

 hopping, a body of about the size of a mag- 

 pie, and party-coloured plumage, are the only 

 marks by which I must be contented to dis- 

 tinguish this numerous fantastic tribe, that add 

 to the beauty, though not to the harmony, of 

 our landscapes. In fact, their chattering every 

 where disturbs the melody of the lesser warb- 

 lers; and their noisy courtship not a little damps 

 the song of the linnet and the nightingale. 



However, we have very few of this kind in 

 our woods compared to those in the neighbour. 



1 There are also the Fish Crow, which lives on dead 

 fish and other garbage by the river and sea shore, and 

 Clark's Crow, which resembles somewhat the jackdaw, 

 both described by Wilson in his Ornithology. 



