NUTCRACKER. 



for purposes of nidification. Some peculiarities, however, in 

 the form of the beak and tongue require more detail : these, 

 although not supplied by our own observation (the rare oc- 

 currence of this bird in England precluding personal in- 

 spection) are from a source worthy of credit. The beak is 

 almost straight, the upper mandible being only a little arched 

 towards the tip ; in form it is nearly cylindrical, with a slight 

 depression on the sides. The tip of the upper mandible pro- 

 jects a little beyond the under, and the whole character indi- 

 cates strength. The under mandible has a lengthened knob 

 on the inside, like that which occupies the upper mandible in 

 the bunting family ; this protuberance or knob commences 

 about the middle of the beak, and reaches almost to the tip. 

 The tongue is of a very peculiar form ; the basal part of it is 

 short, flat, and thin, but towards the tip divided into two 

 pointed forks, which lie one on each side of the knob or pro- 

 tuberance when the beak is closed. The ridge of the knob is 

 very sharp, and calculated for breaking the nuts and other 

 hard berries on which this bird feeds. The nostrils are small 

 and placed near the base of the beak, and covered with short 

 bristles. The irides are dark chestnut colour. The legs of 

 the Nutcracker are very much like those of the crows, black 

 in colour and largely scaled along the tarsi and the upper 

 surface of the toes. The claws are much arched and very 

 sharp ; the hinder claw in particular large in size. 



The head of the Nutcracker is large, and the general fea- 

 thering is loose like that of the jay. The bristles which 

 cover the nostrils are white with brown streaks ; the region 

 of the eyes and the lore are dirty white ; forehead, crown, 

 neck, and rump, dark brown ; all the rest of the plumage, 

 except the wings and tail, dark brown spotted with white ; 

 each of these white spots is placed on the centre of the fea- 

 ther, and are regulated in size as follows : On the throat 

 these white marks are small dashes, and appear to be most 



