2OJTCBACKEH. 53 



These birds, though not migratory, strictly speaking, move 

 about from one part of the country to another. They occa- 

 sionally go in large flocks, but generally in small ones of six 

 or eight, probably the parents and their young, descending at 

 times from the woods of the mountains, to those of the plains; 

 their food being furnished by the various cone-bearing trees. 

 They are shy and wary birds, like the Crow tribe, and it is 

 also* said that they climb the trunks of trees like the Wood- 

 peckers, and that the end of their tails are worn, from resting 

 on them, as those birds do when ascending trees. They fre- 

 quent the depths of the forest, remote from observation; but 

 when they have young they may be approached very closely. 

 These birds are easily tamed, but they have the unfriendly 

 habit of devouring any companions of their captivity. As in 

 the case of the Woodpeckers, it must be a strong cage that 

 will confine them; but if well supplied with nuts, they solace 

 themselves therewith. 



The flight of the Nutcracker 'resembles that of the Jackdaw, 

 but being wavering and unsteady, he avoids crossing any 

 extended space. In the course of its migration, should any 



n country intervene, this bird avails itself of every bush 

 its way for the purpose of resting.' 

 .ts food, whence its name, consists of nuts; which, like the 

 thatch, it fixes in a crevice of a tree, and pecks at till 

 the shell is broken, the seeds of pine trees, beech-mast, acorns, 

 berries, and insects of various sorts, bees, wasps, and beetles. 

 It sometimes attacks and devours birds, as also their eggs; 

 and one has been known to eat a squirrel. 



The note, oddly enough, resembles the word 'crack' 'crack,' 

 as also 'curr.' The latter he loudly utters in the spring of 

 the year, perched on the top of a tree. , 



The nest is placed in holes of trees, which they scoop out 

 like the Woodpeckers, till their purpose is gained. 



The eggs are five or six in number, of a yellowish grey 

 colour, spotted with lighter and darker shades of brown. 



Male; length, one foot and nearly two inches; the bill is 

 black, except the tip of the upper part, which, projecting 

 beyond the lower one, though both get worn down by the 

 'tough morsels' it has to operate on to an equal length, is 

 horn-colour; the space between the bill and the eye is dull 

 white; iris, brown; bristles, white with brown streaks, cover 

 the nostrils. A sort of semi-crest, like the Jay's, surmounts 

 the head, which is brown and unspotted; forehead, crown 



