246 JAYS, MAGPIES, &C. SUBJECT TO FITS. [PART II. 
the young birds would have ceased to depend on 
the old ones. 
Tame Jays and Magpies, even when allowed 
all the liberty consistent with a clipped wing, 
appear to be very subject to cramp and fits, 
which are often fatal to them. Of several indivi- 
duals which I remember being reared at home, 
not one, I think, survived these attacks, though 
one or two attained their full growth. 
A tame Raven, which we had, was also simi- 
larly affected, but he made his escape at a com- 
paratively early period of his life. He used besides 
to execute most extraordinary antics, making now 
and then, all of a sudden, a desperate rush half 
flying and half running, throwing a summerset as 
he did it, and accompanying the performance 
with a loud and peculiar croak. 
We at the time were inclined to attribute 
these freaks to fits or insanity, but it was sug- 
gested, and perhaps with truth, that his object 
might have been simply to scratch his head. 
Gilbert White in his Natural History of Sel- 
borne mentions that he had noticed them turn 
over during their flight, possibly, as he conjec- 
tures, for that purpose, and perhaps our raven 
could not, under the circumstances, have managed 
