THE NUT-CRACKER. 205 



velvety, with exquisite, though rather obscure reflections of 

 green and violet. The female has a shorter crest, and the 

 body more inclining to grey or brown. The young are 

 brown all over, mixed with grey, especially on the throat ; 

 they want the crest, and are somewhat like young starlings; 

 but more round and compact. The legs are dull brown, 

 whereas those of the old birds are dull red. In Britain they 

 are very rare stragglers, seen chiefly toward autumn ; they 

 are, indeed, only summer migrants in the south of Europe. 

 In the countries which they do visit in summer, they and 

 the orioles are of vast service in destroying the larvse of 

 insects.* 



THE NUT-CRACKER (Nucifmga caryocatactes) 



is also an exceedingly rare straggler in Britain, though 

 abundant in many parts of the continent, even the cold ones. 

 It is about the size of a magpie, of a rusty brown colour, 

 palest on the sides of the head and neck ; and is, especially 

 on the scapulars, spotted with white, the spots larger and 

 longer than those on the starling. It lives on wi]d berries, 

 and kernels, and pips, the latter of which it digs out of their 

 shells and cores with its powerful cultrated bill. It also 

 lives upon insects, and digs them out of the holes of trees, 

 upon which it can support itself in a manner similar to that 

 of the wood-peckers. It has, indeed, something of the air, 

 as well as the manners, of those birds ; but it wants their 

 peculiarly distinguishing characters. t 



These four species are all so handsome, so peculiar in their 



* The genus Pastor is placed by Mr. Selby within the family 

 Sturnidce, which we consider to be its true situation. The rose-coloured 

 pastor is a native of the warmer parts of Asia and Africa, and periodically 

 visits Spain, Italy, and southern France. It makes its nest in the holes 

 of trees and the crevices of old walls. The young differ greatly in their 

 nestling plumage from the adult, and greatly resemble the young of the 

 common starling. M. 



f An allied species (N. Tiemispliila) is a native of the forests of the 

 Himalaya range. This genus belongs to the family Corvidce. M. 



