THE OONE-BILLED PEROHERS. 23' 



remove his captives from the traps and throw them into the field, 

 than the carnival begins. The crows seize upon their booty, scien- 

 tifically perforate the integuments, and scoop out and devour every 

 particle of flesh, even in the head. In a very short time the skins 

 are turned inside out, and a few clean picked bones are the only 

 memorials of the banquet." 



The nests of this bird are placed on the summit of some 

 tall tree, and contain about five eggs, closely resembling those of 

 the rook. The length of the bird is eighteen inches. 



The Hooded Crow, otherwise called the Koyston Crow or 

 the Grey Crow, is one of the winter visitors to Great Britain, gene- 

 rally leaving there about April, although it sometimes remains 

 during the summer, and brings up a brood of young. Like most of 

 its congeners, it builds its nest on the tops of very tall trees, such 

 as the pine, but is al§io known to build on precipitous rocks. It is 

 said to use these rocks in the stead of an oyster-knife, for as it is 

 very fond of oysters, and does not possess a knife to open them 

 with, it must discover some other method of getting at the enclosed 

 animal. To attain this purpose, it is said to seize the oyster in 

 its beak, soar up to a great height in the air, and then let it 

 drop from that elevation upon the hard rock, when the shell is 

 dashed to pieces, and the Crow is enabled to pick out the animal 

 with ease. 



There is but little of the usual corvine black hue about this 

 bird, only the head, throat, wings, arid tail being so decorated, the 

 remainder of the bird being of an ashy grey. The length of the 

 bird is about twenty-two inches. 



The Chough is rather larger than the jackdaw, and is 

 principally distinguished by the red hue of its bill and legs. It 

 inhabits the counties of the western coast of England, and is, per- 

 haps, more common in Cornwall than in any other county. When 

 tame, it shows a very inquisitive disposition, examining every 

 novelty with the greatest attention. It builds ita nest in the 

 cavities of high cliffs, and lays four or five eggs of a yellowish 

 white color, spotted with light brown. The length o^ the bird is 

 seventeen inches. 



