Dmwti-v Finches 



,, has long been known thai OBfi 

 ttMadpCBTWa - &m* IGwUffow " ; »" v 



W/n/.n). of the Galapagos Islands, 

 often nnses insects l.oin holes by 



(Mjvitation in rc - s P ecl is , 10 £ ; lcl 



, s , aL .K spread, due 10 ihe fuct thai 

 p |,as freqUcnrty featured on 



WP viaion. Mo,e rccent| y- ■ ha> 



been learned that another of these 

 small birds that so intrigued Charles 

 Dar win, the Manymve R6ch (C'mro- 

 tplM lu liobat^) has the same ability. 

 I fffjXD on the subject is given in the 

 fWs !u r lanuary I9ff7 ( P- 12 l >> on the 

 l,.,v,v ol German observations made 

 in" \HM. "This tool-using", it is 

 ■added, • distinguishes Ihe two species 

 from |U other Darwms Finches". 



llnwcrl.inls- "Wads" 



The remarkable habit ol :he Salm 

 Bowerbird of "painting" the inside 

 m 1H ol it* arbour, using charcoal or 

 I dark berry mixed with saliva— or 

 UVWJ hk.ebags stolen from country 

 laundries— caused much interest when 



it was first made known in Svdney 

 in 1924; and soon afterwards wc 

 learned that the bird usually holds 

 in his beak, while painting, a small 

 piece of macerated bark. Early 

 impressions considered these v. mis (fa 

 be in the nature of brushes, but it 

 is now generally accepted that they 

 arc "corks", or "stoppers", grasped 

 in the beak -tip in ordei to prevent 

 the miMurc fiom escaping while the 

 head ts- held sideways. 



Subscquenlly it was discovered that 

 a similar practice is sometimes fol- 

 lowed by the Regent Bowerhird and 

 at least some members of the Spotted 

 Bowerbird [ChUunydcui) group, in 

 these cases both the paint and the 

 wads heme, apparently, macerated 

 dr\ grass. It is probable, therefor*, 

 that six or seven species of bowei- 

 hirds are tool -users. 



Choughs' U* Ol "Hammers" 



The White- Winged Chough (Cor 

 corttx mclniit/rhatnphux) . a crow- 

 sized hlack bird with white wing- 

 slashes, is the most recent addition 



183 



July 1971 



