403 Remarkable Fotmation of the Bill 



into a redstart ; or of the cuckoo itself being nothing but a 

 metamorphosed sparrow-hawk, while, immediately after this 

 miraculous change, it is so weak, that the kite is so obliging 

 as to carry it on its back ! ! ! — So grossly are the commonest 

 facts misrepresented, when not observed with scrupulous ac- 

 curacy. 



Art. III. On a remarkable Formation of the Bill observed in several 

 Species of Birds. By John Blackwall, Esq. 



Sir, 



Instances of extraordinary deviation from typical forms in 

 the structure of animated beings are highly interesting to the 

 physiologist, whether his attention be directed to the influence 

 which organic modifications exercise upon the animal eco- 

 nomy, or to the more abstruse investigation of the predis- 

 posing causes of these curious phenomena. Such being the 

 case, a concise account of a few examples of this nature, which 

 have recently come to my knowledge, will, it is presumed, 

 require no apology. 



A jackdaw, killed at Bowers, in the parish of Standon., 

 Staffordshire, was presented, in January last, to the Society 

 for the Promotion of Natural History established in Man- 

 chester, and is now deposited in their Museum in King Street. 

 This bird, in the structure of its bill, presents a form closely 

 resembling that which so strikingly characterises the species 

 constituting the genus Loxia, the mandibles crossing each 

 other at some distance from their points, the upper one curv- 

 ing downward on the right side of the lower one, which takes 

 an upward direction to the left. The preternatural elong- 

 ation of the mandibles, in conjunction with a considerable 

 degree of curvature, gives to this individual, which, on dis- 

 section, proved to be a male, a peculiar physiognomical ex- 

 pression, and must have contributed greatly to modify its man- 

 ner of feeding; the contents of the stomach, however, were so 

 changed by maceration, that it was not possible to determine 

 by inspection of what they consisted. I may remark, that 

 this bird was in excellent condition, notwithstanding the 

 inclemency of the season ; a convincing proof that it had 

 acquired much expertness in the management of its singularly 

 formed bill. 



A rook, also preserved in the Manchester Museum, has its 

 mandibles crossed near their extremities, but so slightly as not 

 to have interfered materially with the mode of procuring food 

 usually employed by this species, as is clearly evinced by the 



