THE CHOUGH. 301 



had shot these birds in the mountains of Mourne, which are re- 

 gularly frequented by them : — they build in the inland cliffs. 

 For some years previously, he had annually taken the young 

 from two or three nests, with the intention of rearing them, but 

 was unsuccessful. 



This intelligent gamekeeper assured me, that once among these 

 mountains, he came upon seven choughs attendant on a poor sheep, 

 which was in a particularly weak state when lambing. About 

 half of the young animal was protruded, and had been consumed 

 by these birds, three of which were at the time busily engaged 

 preying upon it.* He had not a gun with him, but was so wroth 

 at witnessing this act of the chough, that when armed, in the 

 latter part of the day, he sacrificed three of these birds ; all which 

 came within his range. He believes that choughs would even 

 destroy a weak animal. They are seen by him, commonly fre- 

 quenting the entrances to foxes' earths, for the purpose, he believes, 

 of feeding on " sheep-shanks " and other similar rejectamenta. As 

 the chough is not considered a carnivorous bird, I was particular 

 in questioning my informant as to the species, and his accuracy is 

 unquestionable. Montagu mentions that his tame bird was fed 

 partly on raw and boiled flesh-meat. Their liveliness, in addition 

 to their beauty, renders them attractive in captivity. In the 

 Zoological Garden, Regent's Park, they may generally be seen, 

 most industriously occupied, digging with their bills into the 

 chinks of the wall, or floor of their inclosure. 



Mr. E. Davis, jun., of Clonmel, informs me, that the chough 

 has been shot within a mile of that town. He has seen the 

 species at Ilelvick Head, county of Waterford, and in great numbers 

 at Loop Head, on the coast of Clare ; — about the marine cliffs 

 generally of the latter county, it is common. Mr. Davis writes : — 

 c ' Although Mr. Selby says ' it has been remarked that the chough 

 will not alight on the turf if it can possibly avoid it, always pre- 

 ferring gravel, stones, or walls/ I have seen hundreds freely alight 



* Mr. Hogg contributes to Macgillivray's British Birds, (vol. i.) a similar account 

 of the carrion-crow, with horrible details of what, to human sympathy, would seem 

 its cold-blooded cruelty to sheep, when in the act of parturition. 



