GG FACULTIES OF BIRDS. 



wings were affected with a vibratory or shivering 

 motion, though the latter were not expanded. He 

 would then return the bird to the perch with his bill 

 and set his foot on it. He first ate the viscera, and 

 continued pulling off and swallowing piece after 

 piece, till the head, neck, and part of the back and 

 sternum with their soft parts were alone left : these, 

 after a little more wrenching while they were held 

 on the perch, and mastication, as it were, while they 

 were held in the bill, he at last swallowed, not even 

 leaving the beak or legs of his prey. The last part 

 gave him the most trouble ; but it was clear to me, 

 that he felt great enjoyment; for, whenever he raised 

 his prey from the perch, he appeared to exult, now 

 masticating the morsel with his toothed bill, and ap- 

 plying his tongue to it, now attempting to gorge it, 

 and now making the peculiar clattering noise, accom- 

 panied by the shivering motion above-mentioned. 

 The whole operation, from the time of seizing his 

 prey to that of devouring the last morsel, lasted 

 about a quarter of an hour. He then cleaned his 

 bill from the feathers, by rubbing it against the 

 perches and bars of his cage. While on this part of 

 the subject, it may be as well to mention another 

 fact, which appears to me not unworthy of notice. 

 I have more than once seen him return his food 

 after he had taken it from his crop, and, after masti- 

 cating the morsel a while in his bill, again swallow 

 it: the whole operation, particularly the return of 

 the food to the bill, bearing a strong resemblance to 

 the analogous action in the ruminating animals. 

 The food on which I saw him so employed was a 

 piece of beef, which had evidently been macerated 

 some time in the crop. While masticating it, he 

 made the same hollow clattering noise as he made 

 over the remains of the goldfinch. Previous to this 

 operation, he had examined his feeding-trough, in 



