Birds. 215 



out one single exception, in the bill. The feet were never used for 

 tnat pui*pose. 



Latterly these birds became so tame as to sit within two feet or so 

 of my head, while I was preparing their feast ; and if I threw a nut 

 into the air to them, they would fly after and catch it. They took do- 

 zens in this way. It is worthy of notice that I never saw more than 

 two of these birds on the tree or in the garden, although they were by 

 no means uncommon in the neighbourhood ; their young even were 

 never admitted. Could there be any connexion between their annual 

 absence in May and the non-appearance of their young ? 



Their position when feeding was a matter of perfect indifference : 

 one while they would be head downwards, then in a horizontal posi- 

 tion, (the table above mentioned being nearly perpendicular) ; then 

 with their heads uppermost. 



The yew-berry affords them a food to which they seem to be par- 

 tial. They extract the hard stone or kernel with great neatness, the 

 red pulp showing no mark of violence. 



Their note or rather cry varies much with the season. I have no- 

 ticed no less than three, two of which were used indiscriminately, but 

 the other was peculiar to the spring. 



The ox-eye (Parus major) occasionally *^ hammers," as do the 

 wood-peckers and nuthatch. I once shot one in the act. Having but 

 an imperfect view of it, I imagined it must be the barred wood-peck- 

 er, a specimen of which I wished to get. 



The nun or blue-cap {P. cceruleus) does the same, in a less degree. 

 Being in a shed a few months back, my attention was excited by hear- 

 ing repeated taps on the outside of the coarse deal planking which 

 formed the sides. Looking cautiously through a crevice, 1 saw a nun 

 actively engaged in ferreting out the small white grub which erodes 

 its channel between the bark and wood of fir. And I have since seen 

 the same bird similarly employed. It gained access to the grub by 

 removing small pieces of bark. J. C. Atkinson. 



Hatton, Berwick-on-Tweed, May 11, 1843. 



Note on the Habits of the Raven. By W — . H — . Esq. 

 The raven, or, as we call him in Scotland, the " corbie," is a bold, 

 hardy, and strong-pinioned fowl. He is said to be black, and so he 

 appears at a distance, but when inspected more nearly, his feathers 

 are found to be of a glossy blue. His length is about two feet, and 

 the fourth feather of his wing is the longest. The strength and struc- 



