CROWS AS WOODCUTTERS 53 



an upright post and then prise out the intervening 

 piece, thus going to work in quite a systematic way. 

 It is of interest to find that in the unspecialized 

 Barbets the power of wood-cutting occurs, though 

 apparently only used for hewing out the nest- 

 hole ; but the state of the back of the cage in 

 which a Great Barbet was confined at the Zoo was 

 ample evidence that this bird's powers in this 

 respect are considerable, though the beak is merely 

 Crow-like. 



The Crows themselves, however, with their 

 usual versatility, can do a good deal in the way of 

 wood-cutting with their stout bills ; Mr. J. Fros- 

 tick, of Balham, once showed me a Carrion-crow 

 he kept as a pet, and its cage afforded ample evidence 

 of the wood-cutting proclivities of its inmate ; and 

 readers of " Barnaby Rudge " will be familiar with 

 the feat of one of Dickens' s real Ravens whose bio- 

 graphies are described in the introduction, though 

 the amount of damage done to the " six stairs and 

 a landing," which he " tore up and swallowed in 

 splinters " is of course humorously exaggerated. 



The greatest power of wood-cutting is, however, 

 as every one knows, to be seen in Parrots ; it is 

 perhaps for this that their very peculiar bills became 

 so specialized in hardness, shortness, and power, 

 for they mostly build in holes in trees, and are 

 not averse to making holes, either in trees or cliffs, 

 for themselves. Besides, many of them are grub- 

 eaters, and cut away wood in order to obtain their 

 prey, quite taking the place of Woodpeckers in the 



